Kenya has devolved funds to grass root level with the aim of bringing services and development close to its citizens in view of vision 2030. However a report by the controller and Auditor General in Kenya gazette 2010 uncovered massive misappropriation of Constituency Development Funds in 16 Constituencies. Inspite of this, other constituencies were reported as posting remarkable performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of devolved funding on the socio-economic welfare of Kenyans. A descriptive survey design was used. A total of 98 respondents were selected through the census approach. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and an interview schedule were used to collect data. Statistical techniques employed in data analysis included Frequencies and means and paired t-test. Results were considered significant at 5% α-level. The Projects financed by CDF are: roads, Bursaries, Health centers, schools and agriculture. Majority of the respondents 92(93.9%) reported that people participate in the CDF funded projects. Of these 33(39.3%) reported that the participation level is average. The difference between the mean score on the situation before and after the introduction of the CDF was statistically significant (t=5.494, p=0.002. The findings from the study show there was significant improvement in the situation after the introduction of CDF. In conclusion, the results of the study show that CDF plays an important role in social economic aspects of the lives of the locals and calls for policy makers to improve on management of the devolved funds.
Keywords: Devolved fund, Socio-Economic welfare
