National Taxpayers Association (NTA) National Chairman Mr Peter Kubebea
(left),joins Civil Society member George Okonji (right) and the members of the
NTA National Governing Council Board to display the CDF Citizen’s Report Cards.
[PHOTO: ANDREW KILONZI/STANDARD]
 

By James Anyanzwa

An audit report on the use of Constituency Development Funds (CDF) in 10 constituencies reveals that Sh125.8 million out of the total allocated amount of Sh728.4 million has either been wasted on poorly done projects, or is simply unaccounted for.

According to the report released on Tuesday in Nairobi by the National Taxpayers Association (NTA), Changamwe Constituency was the worst performer among 10 constituencies sampled across the country, followed by Nambale and Butula constituencies in the ninth and eighth positions respectively.

The report says a whopping Sh12.9 million of the Sh31.6 million allocated to Changamwe Constituency was used on badly built projects. 

Badly built projects

Other constitutes with poor record of use of CDF included Butula which wasted Sh36.4 million out of the total allocation of Sh99.6 million. Field studies revealed that money was mostly used on badly built projects, some abandoned while other were never put up, despite the fact that money had been set aside for them.

The same report has handed Eldoret North and Mvita constituencies a thumbs-up in terms of proper utilisation of Constituency Development Funds (CDF) during the 2010/11 fiscal year.

The audit report found that Eldoret North constituency’s Sh89.9 million-kitty and Mvita constituency’s Sh50.3 million were prudently spent on high quality projects that created value for the taxpayers’ money.

Westlands wasted Sh489, 895, Tetu threw away Sh850,000 while Kisumu Rural squandered Sh11.7 million. Kisumu Town West also misused Sh5.5 million, Machakos Town threw away Sh15.2 million, while Nambale wasted Sh42.6 million.

Growing trend

While presenting findings of the report, NTA National Coordinator, Martin Napisa, noted a growing trend where politicians are increasingly channeling resources to areas that overwhelmingly voted for them during elections.

“NTA assessment of CDF in 145 constituencies has not only revealed poor project implementation, it has revealed a worrying trend where elected leaders concentrate resources in areas that overwhelmingly voted for them during elections,” said Mr Napisa said.

“This is contrary to the principles of Public Finance (Article 201) which requires that the public finance system shall promote an equitable society and that revenue raised nationally shall be shared equitably among national and county governments and that expenditure shall promote the equitable development of the country including by making special provision for marginalised groups and areas.”

The findings of the report represent a second follow-up of the constituencies audited in Phase 1 (2008) under NTA Building Citizen Demand Programme, Kubebea told a media briefing in Nairobi on Tuesday.

While launching the report, National Chairman NTA Peter Kubebea, called on the county governments to learn from the experience and challenges that have stalked the management of CDF kitty including.

Evenly distributed

“The coming county governments must look out for partisan interests that influence allocation of resources and ensure projects are evenly distributed across regions,” Kubebea said as he addressed the media.

He also called on the custodians of the county Government to adopt the right to access of information as a powerful tool of governance.