Members of Parliament have secured a major legal victory after the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision that had nullified the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) Act, 2015, allowing the fund to remain operational as the case moves to the Supreme Court.
In a ruling delivered on Friday, February 6, the appellate court found that the High Court erred in declaring the entire law unconstitutional. The earlier judgment, issued on September 20, 2024, had held that NG-CDF violated the constitutional principle of separation of powers by allowing MPs to oversee development projects — a role reserved for the executive and county governments.
While the Court of Appeal agreed that Members of Parliament cannot directly implement or manage development projects, the judges faulted the High Court for issuing a blanket invalidation of the entire Act. The appellate bench maintained that striking down the whole law was excessive and not properly justified.
Parliament had argued that constituencies are recognised as national government service delivery units, and therefore the NG-CDF supports national government functions at the grassroots level without duplicating the roles of county governments.
The decision now keeps the fund alive, safeguarding billions of shillings allocated for constituency-based development projects across the country. Since 2013, NG-CDF has received more than KSh491 billion, supporting education bursaries, infrastructure development, and community-based initiatives.
However, the legal battle is not over. The matter is now set to proceed to the Supreme Court, which will make the final and binding determination on the constitutionality and future of the NG-CDF framework.
The ruling is widely seen as a significant boost for MPs, who have consistently defended the fund as a critical tool for grassroots development and direct service delivery to wananchi.
