Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita put on notice over irregular CDF bursary allocation

Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita has been put on the spot over alleged nepotism in disbursement of bursary by Constituency Development Fund officials.

Some of the allegations against the CDF committee is that some of the funds' beneficiaries are 'ghost' students among them two chiefs who were given double allocation at the expense of needy constituents.

According to documents made available to The Standard one Gladys Songol, who is a CDF committee member and currently studying at Mt Kenya University in Nakuru, was allocated Sh60,000.

This allocation is against the CDF Act which stipulates that members of the CDF committee are not eligible for the funds.

The locals led by Barkachai Keitany and Kiberur Tomno also raised concern over nepotism in fund allocation, saying that deserving students from poor backgrounds are being sidelined at the expense of 'bigwigs'.

They further noted the disparity in fund disbursement where students in similar colleges get different amounts yet as needy students, the allocations should be the same across the board.

The locals cited one cheque drawn to Caroline Jeptoo allegedly from Lelmen and a student at Mt Kenya University who they said is a 'ghost student' since such a person is non-existent in the said location.

Residents said the student's alleged registration number belongs to a girl who comes from Kabarnet Town and whose parents are not poor.

Another query was around James B Kibet, an assistant chief for Sironoi sub-location, who had two cheques totalling Sh18,000 drawn to him with a similar registration number but different locations.

Another Provincial Administrator Ruth Kaptuiya, an assistant chief of Kinyo sub-location, is said to have received Sh18,000 from Kiboino location and a further Sh8,000 from Kinyo bringing her allocation to a total of Sh26,000.

According to the list of beneficiaries, Ms Kaptuiya appears to have re-arranged her name to make it possible for her to benefit from the two allocations. In Kinyo location she is Kaptuiya Ruth Kipsang while in Kiboino she is Ruth Kipsang yet her registration number remains the same.

"We are calling on the anti-corruption bodies such as Ethics and Anti -Corruption Commission to intervene and investigate how one person can get funds from two different locations. We also want them to scrutinise the criteria used to allocate these funds to the said beneficiaries," Barkachai said.

Tomno said as a result of corruption the deserving cases such as the needy, orphans and those with disabilities are losing out as those who have the capacity to educate themselves benefit.

Lelmen location Chief Joshua Kiptere and location CDF Chairman Samson Kandagor confirmed that there are 'outsiders' on the list saying their original draft list of beneficiaries might have been changed.

CRISIS MEETING

"I have heard that people who were not in our final draft and from other locations received CDF under our location. We are, however, yet to get communication from top CDF officials over the same," chief Kiptere said.

Contacted for comment, Constituency Fund Manager Michael Kones who approved the allocation as indicated in the documents feigned ignorance over the matter saying that the CDF committee will be holding a crisis meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter.

"We only heard there were complaints over the allocation from the social media and until otherwise verified, these allegations remain nothing more than falsehoods propagated by the MP's political enemies out to discredit his development initiatives," Kones said.