National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula announced on Friday that Parliament would appeal the High Court ruling declaring the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) unconstitutional.
Wetangula explained that the National Assembly’s legal team had already requested the judgement and court proceedings to challenge the ruling at the Appellate Court. He also mentioned that Parliament would apply for a stay of the ruling until the case is heard and determined.
Wetangula emphasized that Parliament intends to challenge all the grounds cited by the Petitioners, which the High Court agreed with in its decision. The judgement, delivered by Justices Kanyi Kimondo, Roselyn Aburili, and Mugure Thande, highlighted that NG-CDF undermines devolution, leads to the wastage of public funds, and overlaps with county governments. The court also noted that the Act was created without Senate’s involvement and forms a parallel development unit, separate from the counties.
The court declared that the NG-CDF Act of 2015, amended in 2022 and 2023, was unconstitutional. It ordered that the Fund and its projects should cease operations by midnight on June 30, 2026.
The case was originally filed by the Katiba Institute in 2016, which argued that the Act violated principles of Public Finance and the Doctrine of Separation of Powers. Wetangula reassured that Parliament would address all these findings through the appeal.
By Nairobi