Forget the striking doctors, we need more money ourselves – First Lady RACHEL RUTO shocks the president with her demand

Monday, April 15, 2024 – Even before President William Ruto sorts out the doctors’ demand for increased salaries, First Lady Rachel Ruto has come up with another demand that also requires money.

 This is after she urged Ruto’s government to increase the funds allocated to the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF). 

Speaking in Kajiado County, the First Lady noted that an increased amount would magnify the economic impact of the fund.

Unlike the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), NGAAF is a semi-autonomous government agency (SAGA) under the Ministry of Gender. 

The funds are disbursed to County Woman Representatives who then use the kitty to initiate development projects.

Rachel called for increased funding while attending a function at Maasai Technical Training Institute (MTTI) where she presided over the distribution of income-generating tools and equipment worth over Ksh19 million.

Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa who was attending the event remarked that increasing the amount had hit legal and constitutional hurdles. 

To circumnavigate that, CS Jumwa urged parliamentarians to entrench budgetary allocations to the NGAAF as a percentage of the national budget.

Jumwa further remarked on the importance of the funds explaining that it was critical to grassroots development, especially for women, youth, and people with disabilities who are sometimes left out of commercial funding instruments.

Other political leaders present during the event further asked for the increment of other funds which are controlled by the National Government. 

For the 2022/2023 Financial Year, NGAAF, the fund was allocated a budget of Ksh2.13 billion to be shared amongst 47 counties. 

In the 2023/2024 Financial Year, the amount was increased to Ksh3 billion with Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u remarking it was meant to further empowerment of women.

The Kenyan DAILY POST