An Analysis of Community Participation in the CDF Project Cycle

Abstract

Constituency Development Fund was created by the CDF Act 2003 and made operational in January 2004. The Act was amended in 2007 and its allocation increased from 2.5% to 7.5% to support community-based development initiatives geared towards combating poverty at the grassroots. In 2013, CDF Act 2007 was replaced with the CDF Act 2013 in line with the Constitution of Kenya 2010. The CDF Act (2013) provides that a minimum of 2.5% annual government ordinary revenue shall be devoted to the constituencies for purposes of infrastructural development, wealth creation, and in the fight against poverty at the constituency level. However, reports about mismanagement of CDF projects ranging from lack of accountability, corruption and misappropriation of funds, funding ghost and low impact projects, abandoned projects and theft continue to be reported. These negative reports should not arise if the community is involved in the implementation of these projects. The general objective of this study was to analyze community participation in the CDF project cycle using Dagoretti South constituency, Nairobi County as a case study. The study sought to answer three research questions. What are the provisions of the CDF Act that promote community participation? What is the performance of Ward Development Committees and the Constituency Development Fund Committee in CDF project cycle? What is the level of community participation in CDF project cycle? Data for the study was generated using Focus Group Discussions targeting WDC members. The data was analyzed using content analysis. In examining the provisions that promote community participation, the findings showed that the Act had adequate provisions that anchored community participation in the CDF projects. However, the Act did not provide a community participation framework to enable the provisions to be effected. This lacuna of the Act significantly affected the process of effecting community participation in the CDF project cycle. In analyzing the performance of Ward Development Committees and Constituency Development Fund Committee in the CDF project cycle, it was found that the two organs did not work in harmony. The Act did not clearly provide the role of the Ward Development Committee, yet it did provide the same for the Constituency Development Committee. This was compounded by the Act’s failure to provide a community participation framework that would, among other things specify how these organs would relate in facilitating community participation in the CDF project cycle. This inherent flaw of the Act significantly affected the performance of the two organs. In relation to the assessment of the level of community participation in the CDF project cycle, it was found that community involvement was lacking. This was attributed to the lacuna of the Act as it has been pointed out and the lack of initiative of the area MP and the CDF Office. The study recommended redrafting the CDF Act with input from stakeholders so as to enhance its community participation provisions with a clear community participation framework