The God Sent CDF (Constituency Development Funds) in Kenya

The CDF development system came into existence in 2003 when it was implemented by an act of parliament. Ever since this time, more and more people have been ripping its benefits. The current budgetary allocation of these funds is about 110 million US dollars a year and with 210 constituencies in Kenya, each of them gets 524,000 US dollars annually. The impact of these funds has been magical and will be increased in the next budget.

You may think that this is not a lot of money after it is distributed to all the constituencies but the amazing changes that it has brought to the community has been phenomenal. The major achievement of CDF funds is the amount of individually owned enterprises that it has created. These funds can be loaned out to individuals as short term loans upon the approval of the care taker committee. If you make or loose money as a result of your business you will still have to repay the money that you borrowed and under the stipulated conditions. In this method of borrowing, only small amounts of money can be borrowed by an individual or group of people in that constituency, this is meant to reduce the risks involved.

The amount of educated citizens is increasing. Schools are being built through funding by the CDF resources. Each of the schools that have been built by the aid of CDF funds are properly equipped in terms of teachers and facilities. This has increased the quality of education and aided free primary education in all constituencies. People who could not join higher institutions of learning because of financial difficulties are now able to get an education through loans that they repay after they can generate an income for themselves.

Dispensaries and hospitals are now more developed than ever before. Stalled dispensary buildings and projects are now being completed in record time as a result of funding from the CDF kitty. There is a dispensary close to where I live that was poorly equipped and under staffed in the past but now, it is treating most of the sick people in the area leading to decongestion of larger hospitals. In emergency cases like accidents the wounded are first taken to dispensaries for first aid then to hospitals leading to more survivors. Serious diseases in most cases are discovered in the smaller hospitals then thoroughly evaluated in the larger hospitals leading to less bereavement.
Many roads that were neglected in the past are now re-carpeted and more roads are being upgraded. This has especially aided the transportation of agricultural produce to the nearest market leading to less spoilage. Upgraded roads are a source of income to people in that area as the number of tourists increase. For example, the road to Maasai Mara is in the process of being improved, this will inevitably increase the number of tourists, domestic and foreign. The constituents in that area are now ripping the benefits of CDF funding. Water resources are now reaching more and more people. The availability of water is a major issue which is now being addressed. Remote areas in the North Eastern province which have been suffering form drought have lorries which deliver water when it is scarce. An enormous amount of boreholes are now up and running, women now walk less to get clean water for their household.

The establishment of CDF funds has not come with some problems which are currently being tackled. Some of these problems are misuse of funds, mismanagement of the funding process, corruption and theft. The majority of these problems are being eliminated by the inclusion of constituents in the management and running of the funds. In some constituencies, there is an accounts committee which deals with the allocation of these funds. There is a notion that the Member of Parliament is the one who is responsible for allocating the money to the projects of his choice which is wrong. All the members of that constituency can give proposals to their Member of Parliament for approval. The allocation of these funds should in addition be increased for areas where the development is less so as to improve on the equality of resources country wide.