The Auditor-General has put the management of the Kibwezi West NG-CDF on the spot over the failure to hold public participation in 16 Projects worth over 15 million and other procurement malpractices. This is contained in an Audit report of the 2019/2020 Financial Year.
“This is a contravention of Section 27(1) of the National Government Constituency Development (NGCDF) Act, 2015 that requires the Chairperson of the Constituency Committee within the first year of the commencement of a new parliament and at least once every two years thereafter, to convene open public forum meetings in every ward in the constituency to deliberate on development matters in the ward and in the constituency.” The Audit report read in part.
The Audit report also questioned why the NG-CDF did not have a prequalified list of Suppliers and Contractors. This is a contravention of the provisions of Section 95 (3) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 which stipulates that a procuring entity shall only invite tenders from the approved persons who have been prequalified.
The report further revealed that eight projects valued at 11,065,540 were implemented on parcels of land whose ownership could not be confirmed.
11,592,577 used for the construction of 5 Information Communication Technology (ICT) Hubs, renovation of a Hall to form an ICT Working Class and the installation of ICT equipment and networking was also queried by the Auditor.
“Physical verification of the projects on 3 February 2021 confirmed that out of the ICT Hubs constructed and equipped, only one at Emali Chiefs Office costing 1,500,000 was functioning. In the circumstances, I am unable to confirm whether the public will obtain value for money for the unutilized projects.” The report went on.
The absence of approved bursary award criteria was also a key concern raised by the auditor. “Included in the expenditure is expenditure totaling 42,723,000 transferred to secondary schools, tertiary institutions, and special schools as bursary disbursements. However, the Fund did not have an approved criterion for the selection and award of bursaries to the beneficiaries. In the circumstances, it has not been possible to confirm the existence of effective internal controls in the issue of bursaries.”
Further according to the statement of appropriation, the final expenditure budget and actual on a comparable basis totaling to 208,391,401 and 123,097,291 respectively, resulting in an under expenditure amounting to 85,294,110 or 41% of the budget. The underfunding and underperformance according to the auditor affected the planned activities and may have impacted negatively on service delivery.
