The recent move by Kisii County governor James Ongwae to hint an increase in allocation of ward development fund from Sh5 million per ward to Sh7 million has been backed by a section of professionals.
The increment was meant to be made in a supplementary budget in a few months’ time with the governor recently saying that the kitty will empower MCAs to initiate more projects at the grassroots.
A section of professionals led by Senior World Bank advisor Enock Bogonko who met at Water Park Hotel in Kisii challenged the move and urged the governor to consider constituting an independent committee per ward to oversee the kitty.
“As professionals, we welcome the increment of allocation but such a move should have been given a clear thought. It’s nice to constitute a committee of experts of at least three people to run the kitty at the ward level,” he said.
His counterpart Erick Magoma who works with Trans African Merchants in Lagos said most MCAs lacked basic skills to manage large sums of money and were likely to misappropriate the funds.
“We must be open and fair to each other. The amount of money is large and some MCAs could not be at a position to manage the kitty. It’s advisable to come up with a team that will manage the kitty to avoid wastage,” he added.
Their sentiments we supported by Prof Bogonko Nyanchio who said MCAs powers in the kitty should be minimized to pave way for development.
“We have seen challenges that have surrounded Constituency Development Fund (CDF) simply because MPs have a lot of power. The same should be minimised at the ward level,” he added.