Graft, Politics And Poor Workmanship Blamed for Stalling of Coast Projects

26 June 2011

Nairobi — Corruption, politics and poor workmanship are to blame for the hundreds of stalled CDF projects at the Coast.

This is according to an audit conducted in October last year by Muslims for Human Rights Organisation (Muhuri).

The organisation’s executive director Hussein Khalid said that sitting MPs in some constituencies have abandoned projects initiated by their predecessors.

“They think credit will go to their predecessors if such projects are completed,” said Mr Khalid.

CDF committees and Ministry of Works officials were apportioned blame for colluding with contractors to issue completion certificates to unfinished projects in order to facilitate payment.

Former Kisauni MP Anania Mwaboza has raised concern about several uncompleted projects that he initiated while he was the MP. For instance, the Mwakirunge chief’s office which was abandoned even after the contractor was paid Sh495,000.

The CDF committee that took over from Mr Mwaboza’s team claimed that the stalled projects were poorly planned, lacked community ownership and were disputed.

Others include building of classrooms at Khadija Girls’ Secondary School, the Mtopanga school project and the Voroni cattle dip project.

In Wundanyi constituency in the county of Taita Taveta, the case is no different. Only a few projects have been completed.

Since 2003, when the development kitty was introduced, the constituency has so far received a whopping Sh233 million, but less than 10 projects have been successfully completed.

Most projects have either stalled, are ongoing or are awaiting allocation of more funds.

Declined to comment

Some of the stalled projects are the Sh36 million Kakmwaita, the Sh16 million Kiloghwa Kishenyi and the Sh10 million Choke Lushangonyi water projects.

Area MP Thomas Mwadeghu could not be reached on his cell phone, while his CDF secretary, Mr Greado Mwakatini, declined to comment.

Wundanyi was allocated Sh108 million this year up from 42 million last year. Since Mr Mwadeghu took over from former MP Mwandawiro Mghanga, the new CDF committee has not decided whether to continue with the incomplete projects or start new ones, citing political rivalry.

In nearby Mwatate, there is not much to show for the over Sh230 million that the constituency has received to date.

When former Cabinet minister Marsden Madoka was the MP, mega projects were initiated and done half way, perhaps to be used as a political bait during the 2007 polls.

The audit report on Mwatate constituency states in part: “The audit confirmed and witnessed several unfinished projects on the ground, but in the files, there were completion certificates for the same projects. An example is Dembwa Multipurpose Hall, which had a certificate of completion, but the project itself was far from finished.”

This kicked a storm recently when members of the civil society accused MP Calist Mwatela of authorising the issuance of a certificate of completion even when the hall’s doors and windows had not been installed.

In Lamu County, millions of shillings have gone to waste after dozens of CDF projects stalled midstream.

Mismanagement of funds

The police are currently investigating a Sh4 million project in Lamu West constituency that has been riddled with corruption and mismanagement of funds.

The treasurer of the new CDF committee, Mr Cornelius Tuva, said colossal sums of money had been lost in the Kijitoni and Garden Drainage and Pavement Project. “The project stalled purely because of mismanagement of funds and we have decided to forward the matter to the police,” he said, adding that besides loss of money, the work was poorly done.

The Muhuri audit covered Bahari, Kisauni, Likoni Mwatate, and Ganze constituencies.

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