Kisumu
  30/08/07
 
THE OUTGOING MPs MUST ACCOUNT FOR CDF MONEY BEFORE THE DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT.

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo

It would be a grave mistake for the Narc government to dissolve the current parliament before ensuring that millions of shillings it had allocated to the CDF kitty in all 210 constituencies countrywide is properly accounted for.

The dissolution of parliament, although is a matter of constitutionality, but doing so without ordering for the proper auditing all the CDF accounts would mean giving the outgoing MPs free monetary ammunition which they would use to gain political mileage over their opponents at the polls.

Millions of shillings from the CDF national kitty disbursed to the constituencies still remain unaccounted for. The government stands blamed for the loss of funds in the name of fictitious projects that it has allegedly funded through the local CDF disbursement committees.

Key issues remain outstanding as the current MPs, both in the government and the opposition, wrangle over how to be in the next government, after the impending General Elections. But the main concerns of the electorate is the state of the devolving CDF that the MPs have turned into campaign money and yet there is no indications that some of them will be held responsible and forced to account for the millions of shillings given to them by the government to develop their rural constituencies.

Checking on the CDF financial reports posted to the website by the Finance Ministry and comparing them with the work on the ground, one would be tempted to form an opinion that the government has squandered millions of the scarce resources funding phantom projects.

Also pending is the fate of millions of shillings that civic leaders have been allocated through the Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) to developed their electoral wards.

Details have emerged in several County Councils, Town councils and the Municipalities that the outgoing Councilors had inflated prices and funded non existing projects and pocketed the money. And it appears that the government, particularly the parent Ministry is making no effort to ensure that the civic leaders are forced to account for money advanced to their Councils.

In Luo Nyanza, it is even worse as both the MPs and civic leaders always invoke the name of Raila Odinga to anyone querying about the use of CDF and LATF monies.

Non performing MPs from Luo Nyanza have formed the bad habit of classifying anybody challenging them to account for the CDF, Road Maintenance Levy Fund, and the school Bursary Fund as anti Raila Odinga elements within the community.

Surely is Hon Raila Amolo Odinga aware that thieving leaders invoke his name to intimidate those pressing for transparency and accountability of the funds from the public coffers? The devolving fund is meant to assist the public who equally have the right to know how it is spent.

An MP in Nyanza, who was under the pressure by his constituents to explain how the millions disbursed by the government for development in his constituency have been utilized, shamelessly turned the heat on those spearheading such demands as Raila’s enemies!! Although he was heckled by the enraged electorate, the undeterred legislator, who left the funeral gathering in huff was later to succeed in gagging the press when he corruptly dished out some money to the scribes who were present not to report the incident to their media houses.

If properly examined, the loss of CDF and other monies disbursed by the government for development, the loss of it could be as high as the Goldenberg scandals. But as far as the situation stands, it appears as if many MPs and civic leaders will get out of the hook and go home scot-free after squandering millions of shillings in funding phantom projects.

The only heartening news is that the National Management Committee of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), which is headed by Mr. Nduati Kariuki, recently approved the proposal that the local disbursing committees of the 210 constituencies can now employ or hire architects or building engineers to help them in drawing of projects plans for quick implementation of projects.

The approval of the proposal only come after a special team was sent to the field to collect views from the committees on how best they will undertake the projects within the stipulated timeframe.

But most of these committees are full of MPs sycophants, relatives and political surrogates who are prone to manipulations. Moreover, most of those sitting in the CDF committees are semi-illiterate people who cannot deliberate competently on financial matters.

This is also because the MPs had made it a point that the enlighten lots are locked out of the local CDF committees as the means of paving the way for massive theft and looting of CDF money. Some of the money is only dished out to hired political goons who are used by MPs as their mercenaries for harassing their rivals.

The composition of the CDF committees in almost all the 210 parliamentary electoral constituencies were censured by the various communities as it emerged that some MPs like Rarieda’s Raphael Tuju had appointed his own PA to sit in the committee. In Rongo Hon Ochilo Ayacko had also insisted that his PA sit in the CDF committee.

And in spite of the protest from all over the country against the composition of local CDF disbursing committees. The government has flagrantly ignored the people’s cries for transparency. Why? And yet the devolved money has been grossly misused by the MPs, in spite of discontent everywhere.

The national CDF management under the chairmanship of Mr. Nduati Kariuki went on approving the grossly manipulated CDF committees despite of being aware about the inefficiencies of these committees.

The national CDF committees was not bothered to check on the characters of the individuals they were dealing with and went on releasing millions of shillings to these incompetent CDF committees. It did not bother to put in place the adequate machinery to monitor how the millions designated for projects would be utilized.

It is time the government scrapped the national CDF management and all the local CDF committees and start afresh if it is really genuine in its policy of developing rural areas. It must put in the mechanism in which the locals and administrative machineries work together to ensure the CDF and other monies are not vandalized by the greedy MPs and their cronies.

Ends.
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com