NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 21– The National Assembly has said that it will appeal the High Court decision that declared the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) unconstitutional.
The National Assembly said the House will apply for the stay of the declaration of the unconstitutionality of the NGCDF Act, pending the hearing and determination of the intended Appeal.
The National Assembly also intends to challenge the verdict on all the grounds cited by the Petitioners and allowed by the court.
“The legal team representing the National Assembly requested for a copy of the Judgement and court proceedings with the intention to challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal. In the appeal, the National Assembly intends to challenge all the findings of the High court with regard to the constitutionality of the NG-CDF Act 2015,” read the statement.
This follows a declaration by a three-judge bench of High Court on Friday that the NG-CDF Act 2015 is unconstitutional.
Seperation of powers
The court cited violation of the principle of separation of powers.
The National Assembly amended the Act (2015) in 2022 and 2023 in an apparent bid to beat a similar declaration of a 2013 Act that suffered a similar fate with unsuccessful appeals at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Justices Kanyi Kimondo, Mugure Thande, and Roselyne Aburili also cited failure by the National Assembly to consult the Senate.
The trio, sitting at Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts, said the fund and all its projects, programmes, and activities shall cease to operate on June 30, 2026.
The judges said it will not be in the interest of the nation or justice to bring it to an abrupt closure.
Justice Thande, deviating on the question of when to end NG-CDF operation, settled on its closure at the end of the financial year.
“We are also alive to the fact that there are short, medium and long-term projects [being] implemented by the fund. We are now in the middle of the financial year, and funds may have [been] allocated for ongoing projects,” the bench said.
The bench said the value of its the programme to local communities across constituencies cannot be gainsaid.
Source: capitalfm
