AN incoming government must remove constituency development funds from the control of MPs.
Former Ombudsman and private lawyer John Smith Pitabelema said wide public criticism of development funds being controlled by MPs should send the signal to any government that the funds must be removed from MPs.
He said the close working links between MPs and Constituency Development Officers (CDO) is even more suspicious when it comes to the use of these public funds
Mr Pitabelama said it’s obvious that the millions of dollars given to the control of the MPs have not produced any tangible results in the constituencies.
He also urged the new government to establish a proper monitoring system to monitor how funds are disbursed and whether they were spent on their intended purpose.
“It will be good if those funds are channel through responsible ministries such as ministry of agriculture, tourism and commerce.
“It is important to remove funds from MPs so that they concentrate on their constitutional mandate as law makers.”
Mr Pitabelama said currently the MPs are acting as project managers than legislators.
By ELLIOT DAWEA
