fadhili

SHELTER FORUM
The Voice of the people on Shelter For people centered development Promoting Social Responsibility

PRESS RELEASE
Kasarani Constituency Devolved Funds:
Decisive Action Needed to Curb Pilferage of Public Funds

NAIROBI, Sept. 22, 2010—The Government should urgently launch investigations to establish
the amount of money voters in Kasarani have lost because of stalled projects, corruption and
diversion of funds with a view to prosecuting those found guilty.

This follows a social audit of the running of devolved funds allocated to Constituency by the
Government which reveals massive irregularities in project choice, procurement and management
of resources awarded to various projects in the area by the funds management committees, said
Ms. Wanjiru Gikonyo the National Coordinator, The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA)
and Mr. Francis Anyenda Programmes Officer, Shelter Forum.

“In Kasarani Constituency, there are very low completion rates especially with CDF Projects.
Similarly, a large number of projects are stalled or abandoned. With this statistics, it is evident
that laxity and embezzlement of financial resources might have taken place. Punitive action
should be taken on the officials and contractors responsible for Mwiki/Dandora Footbridge and
Korogocho Market office” Gikonyo and Anyenda noted.

Another issue of concern is the situation where CDF officials are contractors and at the same
time members of project management committees which is a conflict of interest in procurement.
There were 3 instances of corruption. All these 3 projects are stalled with no records on the
implementation process.

TISA, Shelter Forum and Ufadhili Trust also want the Kasarani CDFC, The Ministry of Local
Government, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning, National development and
Vision 2030 to proactively disclose project information including work plans, bill of quantities,
contractor profiles and contractor agreements as a way of allowing accountability and
transparency in overseeing public monies.

“It is alarming that CDF projects in Kasarani constituency are being implemented without

Sore Road, South B. P.O. Box 9202,
00100 Nairobi Kenya. Tel: +254-020-
2608560; Email: shelter@shelterforum.
or.ke www.shelterforum.or.ke
The Institute for Social Accountability
Number 1, Wendy Court, David Osieli
Road, off Waiyaki Way
P.O. Box 48353 – 00100 Nairobi
info@tisa.or.ke www.tisa.or.ke
Rattansi Educational Trust Building,
1st Flr. Koinange St. P.O. 14041,
00100 Nairobi Kenya Tel: +254-020-
343061/2; +254-720366195 Fax:+254-
020-343067 ufadhilitrust@ufadhilitrust.
org www.ufadhilitrust.org
project lists. Despite numerous requests, the social auditors were not provided with up-to-date
project lists. These are also not on both the CDF Board’s and Kasarani constituency websites,
which is a contravention of the CDF Act,” according to the three organizations.

Section 28 of the Amended CDF Act 2007 provides that the Board will submit monthly
reports to Parliament on the status of approved projects and their status and a summary
of disbursements to the constituencies. The Board is not updating this information onto the
website demonstrating that it is either deliberately withholding information or not generating
the needed information and is therefore in breach of the law.

Presently Kasarani CDF and LASDAP officials routinely and systematically withhold information
from the public and deny citizens the opportunity to engage effectively in their own local
development. We hereby call upon the CDF Board, Kasarani CDFC and the LASDAP desk to
institute a proactive information disclosure policy with a view to promoting accountability in
CDF and LATF management.

Another trend evident Kasarani constituency and wards visited is that project beneficiaries are
locked out of the implementation process.

Background
The validation forum is part of the Nairobi-Kisumu social audit campaign which targeted three
decentralized funds: Constituency Development Fund [CDF], Local Authority Transfer Fund
[LATF] and Economic Stimulus Programme [ESP].

The Nairobi Social Audit campaign was jointly undertaken by The Institute for Social Accountability
[TISA], Shelter Forum and Ufadhili Trust. The campaign targeted three decentralized funds:
The Constituency Development Fund [CDF], The Local Authority Transfer Fund [LATF] and The
Economic Stimulus Programme [ESP].

The validation forum aims at getting feedback from constituents, duty bearers and other actors
in the constituency and verifying the findings of the report.

A social audit is a process that seeks to evaluate how well public resources are being used to
meet the real needs of target beneficiaries. If well implemented the social audit is an important
tool to enable local communities influence local development outcomes.

The Nairobi-Kisumu Social Audit Campaign aimed at: Creating awareness of local governance
institutions, identifying resources and opportunities for citizen engagement through social
audits and the Utilization of the social audit findings to lobby for reforms.

Since June 2010, with the help of stakeholders, the Kasarani Constituency social audit team
visited a total of 14 projects out of which 11 were CDF and 3 were LATF. Vital information about
the utilization and management of financial resources allocated to these projects was collected
and compiled into a preliminary report.

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Media Contact: Dorah Nesoba

Tel: +254 020 444 3676; 0722 711193
Email: dorah.nesoba@tisa.or.ke or info@tisa.or.ke

Sore Road, South B. P.O. Box 9202,
00100 Nairobi Kenya. Tel: +254-020-
2608560; Email: shelter@shelterforum.
or.ke www.shelterforum.or.ke
The Institute for Social Accountability
Number 1, Wendy Court, David Osieli
Road, off Waiyaki Way
P.O. Box 48353 – 00100 Nairobi
info@tisa.or.ke www.tisa.or.ke
Rattansi Educational Trust Building,
1st Flr. Koinange St. P.O. 14041,
00100 Nairobi Kenya Tel: +254-020-
343061/2; +254-720366195 Fax:+254-
020-343067 ufadhilitrust@ufadhilitrust.
org www.ufadhilitrust.org