Greed and self-interest have blurred the minds of some MPs, who now regard the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) as their property to dispense with as they deem fit.
As a result, they have used CDF money to fill Constituency Management Committee offices with relatives and friends.
They reward them with jobs to ensure that the funds are directed to their own projects, without any short- or long-term benefits for their constituents. Which is why their claims that the allocation by Treasury was manipulated sounds hollow.
The truth is that the level of funding will actually go up by some Sh2 billion this year, bringing it closer to the desired 2.5 per cent of national revenue.
It is all very well to increase the CDF kitty, but Treasury must ensure proper safeguards to protect disbursement of the funds are in place and being observed.
Treasury needs to carry out an independent audit of how the funds are managed and disbursed at the grassroots.
Such a review is likely to unearth massive irregularities in the process, including the building of white elephants, corruption in the contracts for infrastructure projects, as well as outright nepotism.
To date, the impression most voters have is that Treasury has opted to protected the rotten eggs in the CDF disbursement chain responsible for the misuse of funds so as to keep legislators happy.
This impression may not be entirely true.
However, it is up to Treasury to ensure that CDF committees at the constituencies are investing funds in projects that actually benefit the people rather than lining the pockets of MPs and their retinue of hangers-on.
Source: The Standard | Online Edition
0 comments:
Post a Comment