National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale. He has defended the government over delayed disbursement of CDF. [Photo/Daily Nation]
National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has defended the delay in disbursement of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Speaking on Thursday, the Garissa Township lawmaker explained that most MPs had not submitted their proposals to the board, occassioning the delay to release Sh25 billion.
“I want to ask all MPs to submit their project proposals to the board. A few MPs have submitted documents. The National Treasury can only release the funds after the proposals are approved by the board,” he said.
Duale further stated that funds would only be released by the government when MPs' project proposals were approved by the CDF Board.
However, National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi differed with Duale, saying MP's delay in forwarding proposals should not be a reason for Treasury to withhold the funds.
“It should disburse the funds so that the board can deal with MPs over their proposals. It is unnecessary bureaucracy to say that the Treasury will only release funds after MPs have submitted their proposals,” he noted.
A section of MPs had on Wednesday expressed their frustration with the Treasury over the delay, arguing that crucial projects had stalled for lack of funds.
Others observed that students in their constituencies who rely heavily on CDF bursaries risked reporting to schools late for lack of school fees.