Lobby group says CDF kitty suffering colossal abuse

 By DANIEL NZIA

A lobby group has warned of the misuse of devolved funds.

The National Taxpayers Association (NTA) said rampant graft is stalling implementation of projects under the devolved funds.

The association’s Head of Programmes, Martin Napisa, pointed out that the management structure of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) exposes the kitty to massive cases of pilferage.

He cited rising number of cases of CDF committees and Projects Management Committees demand bribes.

Mr Napisa was speaking at Mbumbuni Market in Mbooni constituency during the launch of the constituency’s citizens CDF Report Card.

“This jeopardises the quality of projects, as contractors do a shoddy job to make up for extra investment in bribes,” he said.

Napisa also decried the rampant duplication of project funding, with more than one funding agency claiming ownership of a particular project.

laying claim

“It is common to find CDF teams claiming they funded a project that Local Authority Trust Fund is also laying claim to,” he said.

NTA has launched similar reports in Kathiani, Kilome and Makueni constituencies.

The social audits have also noted a marked increase in ghost projects. NTA’s Eastern Province, regional coordinator, Annah Katuki, cited a case in which the Mbooni CDF Committee had projects listed as complete on the website, but were non-existent.

NTA has completed scrutinising CDF-funded projects in 82 constituencies since 2008.

Napisa said they were assessing 32 other constituencies whose reports would be out before the end of the year.

NTA has also partnered with the Ministry of Local Government to assess Murang’a, Mbita and Bungoma County councils.