Creation of new districts cause for alarm

Since coming to power in 2002, President Kibaki has gazetted the creation of 124 new districts and there are rumours of a possible 15 more being created. Experts speculate the objective is to pre-empt the intended constitutional boundaries review. The ad hoc creation of new districts is a continuation of the government’s political manipulation of local development which in turn undermines the impact of the extensive resources channelled to through the districts and decentralised structures.    Read more

MP’s Must Pay Tax

Kenya MP’s taxation: the real reformists should stand up to be counted
Out of the country's 210 members of parliament, at least four have distinguished themselves with a dedicated determination to pay tax as debate on the issue of legislators' taxation rages..
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Failure of Redress in CDF

Rampant abuse and mismanagement in CDF operations has given rise to an increasing number of complaints from the public. CDF Insight investigations have established that despite the rising number of complaints against Members of Parliament (MPs) and their Constituency Development Fund Committees (CDFC’s) across the country, only three cases have been officially prosecuted over the past six years. In this article Musa Radoli Coordinating Editor CDF Insight explores the status of CDF complaints and redress over the past six years. Read more

CDF-Frosty Relations with Ministries

Frosty working relations between Constituency Development Fund committees and district government departments in Amagoro, Butula, Budalangi, Funyula and Nambale constituencies in Western Province is hampering efficient management and implementation  of CDF projects.
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Creation of 130 new districts - development by muddling along

According to Dorah Nesoba’s Paper President Kibaki has created more than 130 new districts since coming to power in 2009 in stark contrast to his original position whereby as opposition leader Kibaki together with John Michuki launched court proceedings against the then President Moi, accusing him of creating 24 districts in 24 years arguing that Moi was creating structures that could not be supported-or would double the taxation burden of the citizen.

Each additional district is likely to cost the tax payers just under one billion shillings and comes at  a time when the country is running a budget deficit of over 90 billion shillings and up to 5 million Kenyans facing starvation in the wake of spiraling inflation, cost of supporting a bloated cabinet and the post-election chaos of last year. An additional 130 billion to the already bust government coffers is cause for panic given that the government is unable to meet routine commitments such as the provision of funds for the secondary school bursary program, and hospital operations are grinding to a halt due to the cash crunch. 

 See paper by Dora Nesoba on creation of new districts- New Districts bringing services closer or making services expensive?