Governance Report Card
Councilors cannot account for 65 percent
of LATF Bursary allocation.
T he Mbale Market
Neighborhood As-
sembly a newly established
community outfits has
launched a scathing attack
on the municipal council
for misappropriation of
public funds . According to
the LASDAP Monitoring
and Evaluation team report
over K.sh 190 000 cannot
be accounted for , the mon-
ies was meant to assist the
needy children in the re-
spective ward as bursary .
A total of K.sh k.sh 300000
was allocated for this pur-
pose . Each councilor was
allocated fifty thousand for
his ward In central
Maragoli the report indi-
cates a paltry K.sh 80000
spent was spent on bur-
A case of wastage of LATF public funds
There is a sad state of affair
when it comes to the imple-
mentation of the LATF
funded projects by the Vi-
higa Municipal council .
These are some of the pro-
jects initiated and have not
had any impact on the com-
1
sary , leaving K.sh 42 000
un-accounted . In Wamu-
luma ward the councilor
spent K.sh 12000 only 38
000 cannot be ex-
plained .In Lyaduywa ward
the report further states
that 12000 was spent on
bursary . In Izava North
only K.sh 22000 was used
for the intended purpose .
While in Chavakali ward
where His worship the
mayor represents could
only account for K.sh
14000 out of K.sh 50000
allocated bursary funds .
North Maragoli councilor
could not account for his
K.sh 19000. In total K.sh
300000 allocated to wards
only 105 000 was spent
representing 35% of the
munity as a result of poor
project management at
both grass root and at the
council level .
1 million shillings was allo-
cated to Enderi , Kegoye ,
Chambiti road and used
for gravelling and only K.sh
Newsletter Date
Volume 1, Issue 1
total disbursement , a
whooping 195 000 account-
ing for 65% of the total
Inside this issue:
funds cannot be accounted
for . Meanwhile K.sh LYDUYWA MAR- 2
300000 is set aside annually KET LIES
for office rent only the
North Maragoli Councilor MUNICIPAL 2
COUNCIL HALL
Mr. Luvai has an office ,
the rest do not have offices HALOMBEVE NA 2
yet they have been drawing REVIVED
monies as a office running
ex- WHAT IS LATF 3
FUND
penses
the re- SCHOOLS MISS 4
port OUT ON LATF
re-
MMPAKA NA 5
vealed .
TITANIC BATTLE
CHAVAKALI 6
STREETLIGHTS
Members of NA
being interviewed
by Oxfam Novib
Special points of
interest:
Christian Partners
Development
Agency through its
Governance and
Democracy office
is working wit the
85 000 was expended un- community through
der the Kazi kwa Vijana its legally estab-
initiatives a duplication of lished structures
the work .This is one of the called Neighbor-
hood Assemblies to
example through which the bring about the
public funds have been community change
siphoned without the a that everyone is
trace . yearning for .
 Lyaduywa Ward ( Nadanya Market ) case of broken promise
T
he idea of putting up
Nadanya Market has been in the resi-
dence minds for over five years . The
reports from the council indicate a
whooping K.sh 400000 is allocated to
the same project annually for the last
fours yet there is no sign project start .
The ground for earmarked for the mar-
ket was identified and the community
donated the land for the same . Despite
numerous attempt by the residence to
have the market , has been thwarted by
The Municipal Council Hall
The Municipal Council of Vihiga has
been faced with the problem of com-
pleting the construction of the social
hall . The construction of the Hall is
funded by the LATF funds , it has
taken a while since the construction
stated . According to the monitoring
team the council has sank in over K.sh
15 million in the incomplete . However
according to the town clerk , the con-
struction so far has consumed K.sh 19
Halombeve NA Assembly revived .
Halombeve NA – This
amongst the old NAs that
have been rejuvenated after
long years of dormancy one
remarkable activities that the
NA has undertaken was the
restructuring of its leadership
structure through elections.
After successful election the
NA engaged Vihiga County
and the Ministry of roads
Page 2
2
the false promised made by the council velopment at the proposed site is the
during the consultative meetings each sinking of two pit latrines . The con-
year . The matter has been addressed by struction of the market is over due ,
the Demesi Neighborhood Assembly and it is been the wish of the commu-
where members discussed about it and nity to for the market to be constructed
petitioned the council immediately factoring in
officials about it however the at the allocation of the
there has never been any funds has been judiciously
response . To add the in- reimbursed for the last 4
sult to peoples view , a years totaling to close to
report of community audit K.sh 1.6 million. The
indicated that the project question posed here is
has been a major set back where is our money.
in development of the The proposed Solongo sta-
dium ground , notice the
area .The only sign of de- uneven ground
million . The clerk indicated that they used to accommodate the new officers
needed more funds to complete the and probably new Assembly under the
hall closely 24 million is needed to members from the new devolved gov-
complete the building . He added that ernment structure .Despite the promise
when the hall is complete it will be the monitoring committee is not satis-
fied with the work so far done . It iden-
The county hall will be used to tified poor workmanship evidenced
accommodate the new officers and visible fissures on the inner walls .The
probably new Assembly under the committee has taken the council to task
new devolved government to explain the suspect use of the LATF
structure . fund on this particular project .
wanted to know location. The demand was
the amount of made against the back-
funds allocated drop of poor gravelling of
to their area for the roads . Through the
development petitions made the con-
purposes espe- structor was stopped from
cially the LATF further work till he
funds for the brought on the site the
financial year Women participants in a right quality material .the
Neighbourhood Assembly
2010/2011 in session constructor complied and
Wanondi sub good work .
Governance Report Card
What is this Local Authority Transfer Fund ( LATF)
The Local Authority Transfer Fund
(LATF) was established in 1999
through the LATF Act No. 8 of 1998,
with the objective of improving service
delivery, improving financial manage-
ment, and reducing the outstanding
debt of local authorities (LAs). LATF,
which comprises 5% of the national
income tax collection in any year, cur-
rently makes up approximately 24% of
local authority revenues. At least 7% of
the total fund is shared equally among
the country's 175 local authorities; 60%
of the fund is disbursed according to
the relative population size of the local
Schools yet to receive the LATF funds for 2007
Schools within the municipal council
are yet to receive their LATF allocation
of 2007 to date , they include Kidundu
Primary , Kegondi Primary school ,
Mulundu Primary school which were
supposed to be built two classrooms
each at a cost of K.sh 900000 . While
Chavugumi Primary is yet to receive
k.sh 600000 to construct a single class-
room
Mmpaka NA takes on the Ministry of roads
Mmpaka Neighborhood Assembly
established in 2009 successfully took
on the Ministry of Roads about the
delay in the compensation of parcel of
land set aside by the community to
pave way for the construction of Kipsi-
gak—Serem—Shamakhoko road . The
convenor Mr. John Amiani lamented
that the issue has been in the public
domain for the last ten years . Mr.
Amiani was able to produce a number
Volume 1, Issue 1
3
authorities. The balance is shared out
based on the relative urban population
densities. LATF monies are combined
with local authority revenues to imple-
ment local priorities An advisory com-
mittee comprising the private sector,
the Ministry of Finance, the
Permanent Secretary Minis-
try of Local Government,
and the Kenya Local Govern-
ment Reform Programme’s
secretariat, guides LATF
operations. LATF annual
reports and other disburse- A LATF meeting held at
Chavakali ward
ment information are dis-
Meanwhile In Izava North Munoywa
dispensary was allocated 1.2 million
and only K.sh 640 000 has been put
to good use while 560 000 cannot be
accounted for . The council has been at
K.sh 560 000 cannot be accounted
for out of 1.2 million allocated for
construction of dispensary .
of letters between the Ministry and the
local community . Even
the area Member of Parlia-
ment was involved in one
way , the PM when the
was the roads minister .
When the NA was
launched it took upon
itself the duty of ensuring
A keen listener follows the
that the beneficiaries not NA proceedings
locked out of the benefit
seminated through newspaper adver-
tisements. 60% of LATF allocations is
released based on LAs meeting set re-
quirements. The remaining 40% is
released based on LAs performance
measured through LASDAP and other
indicators. No disbursement
is made unless LAs meet the
requirements .
pain to explain the delay in the actual
funding of the funding of the project .
The council says its is important that
they settle the statutory dedications as
one condition before any disbursement
can be made to the council , this is the
reason why they has bee delay in the
finalization of the initiated projects
whoever the residence would want the
communication to served to them at a
reasonable time .
scheme . The complaint was supported
by the fact that their coun-
terparts in Nandi Hills
had long ago been com-
pensated . The NA has
successfully petitioned
the government which
has promised to compen-
sate the beneficiaries as
soon as the correct names
are identified
Page 3
 Christian Partners
Development Agency
Executive Director ,
Christian Partners Development
Agency (CPDA) Waiyaki way ,
AACC Building , Ground Floor Christian Partners Development Agency (CPDA) is non profit ,
Phone: +254 204 442 838,
non partisan , organization registered as a Non Governmental
4441994 Organization (NGO) under the NGO coordination Act of
Fax: +254 204 442 838,
4441994.
1990 in 1993. CPDA was started as a relief organization dur-
ing the 1985 drought that led to widespread famine in the
whole of Kenya , but later changed its focus to Governance and
Developmental activities . Our programmatic focus is in two
Christian Partners categories ; Governance and Democracy and Integrated Food
Development Security for Sustainable Livelihoods. These programme are cur-
Partners
in
Agency
rently being implemented in Kenya .

www.cpda@or.
ke

Chavakali street lighting project

The installation of street lights at
Chavakali has is dubbed as one of
the most participatory and successful
LASDAP project by the Vihiga Mu-
nicipal Council . The project was
initiated in 2008/2009 financial
year , the project was allocated close
to K.sh 800000 fir the ten poles in
the first phase and in phase II an
additional K.sh 600000 was allo-
cated for the same .
The project was initially started by
Evojo Neighborhood Assemblies
under the leadership of Mr. Samuel
Obondo who dubs as the Larger
Vihiga District Reconciliation chair-
man . The need for security light was
raised as a result of frequent insecu-
rity in the area . The area had ex-
perienced many incidences of mug-
A LASDAP meeting at Ivona
friends church Chavakali
ging and robberies. The NA dis-
cussed a number of options which
included the increase in numbers of
police personnel at the Chavakali
police post . The posting of police
personnel was not a walk in the
park . Members of the NA made
several meeting with the District
Officer and the Police Vihiga Police
boss whoever there was nothing
forthcoming until they took the
matter with the Provincial Police
boss in Kakamega . The police boss
send additional police at the police
post . The security condition im-
proved for a while but the case of
mugging continued on the dark
streets . It is this concerned that the
NA presented the street lighting
project as a priorities which was
completed with installation of 12
power posts . Sadly the lights have
been working intermittedly and this
was attributed to vandalism of cable
wires and lack of switching appara-
tus only found in Nairobi .