Nairobi: Westlands Member of Parliament (MP) Timothy Wanyonyi has presided over the issuance of personal cheques from well-wishers to the needy students of the constituency as he called upon the government to continue the operations of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Bursary. The MP reiterated that the financial support for the children did not come from the CDF Kitty and those presented to the donors were vetted and established to be very needy. ‘There are students who had fees arrears of over Sh100, 000, which has already been cleared,’ announced Wanyonyi, commending the well-wishers for their great service to the children of the area.
According to Kenya News Agency, as the area MP, Wanyonyi insisted that his work is to facilitate and get as much support as he can since the CDF fund alone is not enough. ‘We pay school fees and we pay very little, it is not enough. We hope that in the future, when there will be no squabbles about the validity of CDF, we shall urge the government to release enough money to CDF in order to cater for entire school fees,’ he added. Speaking from his office in Nairobi, the MP also pointed out that schools are struggling with so much debts and urged the government to increase capitation funds. He emphasized that this money will go a long way into preventing these schools from suffering the same fate being witnessed in some of the universities in the country.
However, Wanyonyi expressed confidence that the government is going to bring a Supplementary budget to avert any impending crises when Parliament resumes its sitting on Tuesday 11th February, 2025. On CDF bursary not being enough, the MP described the mulling of abandoning devolved bursary as a very defeatist approach maintaining that Kenyans have always yearned for money to be devolved to the lowest unit as much as possible. ‘We want this money to reach the grassroots because if a Member of County Assembly (MCA), MP and Governor have money/kitty to give bursaries, there is nothing wrong about that. It is actually a good thing because the chief beneficiary here is the common mwananchi,’ he asserted.
Wanyonyi affirmed that CDF does not belong to Members of Parliament citing the NGCDF Act in the constitution which completely removes Members of Parliament from managing the money. The MP explained that the CDF has a committee which is appointed including a board that manages the fund and everything is answerable through the Auditor General who audits the accounts leaving nothing hidden. He noted that the role Members of Parliament play is just to oversee the NGCDF adding that the CDF money directly benefits citizens at the local level like building schools, paying school fees and even enhancing security. ‘If you go to police stations, we have built infrastructures. We have also helped the chiefs,’ he said.
Wanyonyi called on Kenyans to be vigilant enough and fight for what has supported them all this time as he reminded the public that if NG CDF is scrapped, the biggest loser will be the people at the lowest level of the society.