The impact of Constituency Development Fund in Kasarani Constituency
Abstract
This study was conducted to establish and document the impact of CDF in Kasarani
constituency. Kasarani constituency is one of the constituencies amongst 8 constituencies
in Nairobi province. It is ranked as the 77th out of 210 constituencies in the poverty index,
with an estimated population of 500,000 most of who live below the poverty line. CDF is
a development initiative by the 9th parliament under President Mwai Kibaki to address
poverty alleviation at the constituency levels. Its main objective is to increase wealth and
stability at the grassroots with a strong motto of"Maendeleo kwa Wote" by enhancing
transparency, accountability, equity in resource distribution and participatory approaches
by all the stake holders.
The study particularly sought to recommend if the CDF initiative is meeting its objectives
because prior decentralization initiatives that had been adopted have overwhelming
evidence that they were unsuccessful due to some chronic challenges. Since the CDF is
founded on the same background will it face the same challenges like the other programs
or will it overcome. The study sought to answer/report if the constituents benefit from the
CDF and what strategies/policies/measures can be adopted to make the programs impact
more viable in Kasarani constituency.
The study objectives were to
i) To evaluate the impact of constituency development fund in Kasarani constituency
ii) To identify ways of improving the management of CDF in Kasarani constituency
The research questions were:
1) Have the CDF objectives been achieved in Kasarani constituency?
2) Is there participatory decision making in the CDF ofkasarani constituency?
3) What are the factors affecting the management of CDF in kasarani constituency?
4) What is the overall impact of CDF in kasarani constituency?
5) What is the general attitude towards CDF from the main stakeholders in kasarani
constituency?
The study was conducted through a survey research design, data been collected between
October and December 2007 using questionnaire, interviews, and documentary analysis
as the main tools of data collection. The target population was the Kasarani constituents
who are estimated to be 200,000.Since the target population is large an accessible
population of7 people from each of the 7 divisions that comprise Kasarani constituency. 5
members of the Kasarani CDF committee, 6 projects funded by the CDF and the M.P
comprise the sample. Stratified random sampling was used because the population was
not homogenous on some certain characteristics. The data was analyzed using descriptive
and inferential analysis.
The main findings of the study were that 48% of the constituent respondents were the
youth (18-40 years), 32% were female thus depicting gender imbalance while 84% of the
respondents were literate thus high literacy levels in the constituency.
There is a high CDF awareness of 96% amongst the constituent respondents with 70% of
the respondents agreeing that the CDF was beneficial to them. H~ever, a substantial
68% said there was low community involvement into the CDF affairs in Kasarani
constituency, with 68% of the respondents saying their priorities were not the CDF
committee priorities.
58% of the constituents echoed a concern of poor management of the CDF in Kasarani
constituency, although68% of the constituency respondents agreed the CDF had a
positive impact in Kasarani constituency. With 96% of the constituents having an overall
positive attitude towards CDF in Kasarani constituency.
Most of the constituents (68%) agreed there was political interference in CDF issues
which was the main reason why the former MP was not reelected. Regrettably, out of the
6 projects observed; only 1 project was complete with the other 5 projects ongoing.
The study concludes that CDF has had a positive impact with enormous benefits to the
grassroots; however greater success is achievable if the challenges cited in the report are
well addressed.
The study recommends that there should be adequate training of the CDF committee to
encourage professionalism in addition to enhancing transparency and accountability
through constant monitoring and evaluation, as well as more punitive measures for any
misappropriation.
Minimization of political interference especially in the composition of the CDF
committee to ensure harmonization of project priorities. This will reduce the clash
between community projects and political projects.
Endear towards more balanced representation in terms of gender and age in the CDF
affairs. This, coupled with frequent community consultation will improve the level of
popular participation and bring a sense of belonging to the community.
f
Increase funding for the CDF kitty to avail adequate funds to address the various socio-
economic needs, and the relocation of the CDF offices to within Kasarani constituency
would go along way in the achievement of the success of CDF initiative
The researcher suggested further research should be carried out to evaluate the
achievement of the CDF objectives in the country and to establish the challenges and
viable solutions to the CDF initiative in Kenya.
Citation
Postgraduaje Diploma In Project Planning And Management Of The University Of Nairobi. June,2008Publisher
University of Nairobi