A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT FUND ACT

Abstract

The striking out of parliamentary Acts in Ken y a on grounds of being unconstitutional has become a norm only second in rank to the apparent lethargy on the part of the Parliament of the Republic of Kenya to enact any meaningful number of legislations in an y given session. This ' belligerent' contention is not without basis -. Parliamentary loss of credibility through the apparent conspiracy while voting on matters affecting the personal interests of members of parliament in Ken y a is not made better by the failure of parliament to enact statutes that pass the test of constitutional scrutiny. In this paper, we seek to interrogate the issue whether the Constituency Development Funds Act , arguably one of the few land mark achievements of the ninth parliament , passes the test of constitutionality. It is the authors' contention that in light of the previous jurisprudence from the High Court of Kenya, sitting as a constitutional court, this self declared achievement b y the ninth p a rliament of th e Republic o f K eny a is y et anothe r dismal performance from th e August House.