Irate Nyaribari Chache residents on Thursday locked the CDF office at Keumbu, protesting over delayed disbursement of the funds to their groups, despite having been registered, trained and issued with certificates for the same.
It took the intervention of police officers attached to Keumbu Police Station to restore access to the office by breaking the padlock the protesting leaders had used to secure its main door.
Speaking to the officers, Sammy Ombuna from Keumbu Ward lamented that the demo was occasioned by the fact that the 67 groups that had initially been registered, trained and certified for the fund were yet to receive their allotted share, saying that this had led to murmurs of dissent among group members concerned about the whereabouts of their money in the wake of media reports confirming the disbursement of such funds to other areas of the country in the past.
“All other constituencies have already received their share of the funds and duly disbursed them to the successful applicants. Why the prolonged delay in our case?” he asked.
He added that their efforts to trace the root of the problem had so far resulted in the issuing of conflicting answers from the area MP, Richard Tong’i and the Uwezo Fund chairman, Josphat Nyamache.
“When we went to his office to inquire on the exact position of the money, he told us that it had been deposited by the Treasury in the Kisii branch of the Cooperative Bank,” he said.
“However, today when we called our MP, he told us that it was still pending in Nairobi. Who is speaking the truth between the two?” a puzzled Ombuna posed, saying that there was something fishy about the whole issue.
“After having been registered by paying the requisite fees, trained by Uwezo Fund personnel and received the appropriate certificates, the only thing remaining is the disbursement of the funds which has however not materialized,” he disclosed.
“Despite spending considerable amounts of money for registration, group certificate printing and dedicating time to attend the training we are yet to receive the money. Our biggest worry is whether the money has ended up in individuals’ accounts or it has indeed delayed in Treasury headquarters in Nairobi,” he added.
Rose Nyagari, a youth leader, explained that the protesting beneficiaries had decided to lock the office because of non-performance of duties by CDF and Uwezo Fund officials in their case, saying that it was only after their drastic action that the MP was called, and in the process lied to them that the funds had been delayed in Nairobi.
“They called the police officers from Keumbu police station to break the padlock we had used to secure the offices and then called the area MP, only for him to lie to us in the process of trying to convince us to wait until the funds are made available to us. We are at the limit of our patience and cannot afford to wait any longer,” she said.