Members of Parliament have resumed their induction seminar in Mombasa, following the release of KES 4 billion in National Government-Constituency Development Funds by the National Treasury (NG-CDF).
More than 300 MPs had boycotted the seminar for two days, threatening to shut down Parliament until the funds were released. To protest the delay, MPs camped out in the lobby of the hotel, and some went to the beach.
Parliamentarians, led by NG-CDF committee chairman Musa Sirma, had received only KES 7 million of the funds, with KES 2 million going toward administrative expenses and KES 5 million going toward bursaries.
They expected at least KES 50 million for bursaries and believed their walkout was genuine rather than political in nature.
MPs had accused Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung’u of failing to address the issue.
Following a Supreme Court ruling, the Treasury agreed in December to disperse KES 2 billion in weekly tranches of the NG-CDF. MPs will receive KES 44.289 billion over the course of 23 weeks, with the first payment due on December 9, 2022.
Moses Wetangula, Speaker of the National Assembly, arrived in Mombasa on Wednesday to mediate the dispute between lawmakers and the finance ministry.
The lawmakers also demanded that the state close all public schools that had reopened for the first term due to a lack of fees for the thousands of students who rely on bursaries.
