A robust set of accountability and transparency measures for all funding programs including the Rural Constituency Livelihood Fund(RCLF) and all Constituency Development Funds(CDFs) is highly needed.
The lack of information and accountability in all forms of funding programs has stokes concern and criticism nationwide of waste, fraud and corruption in the manner in which funds are being distributed and used.
A recent World Bank report has found very little information as to how Rural Constituency Livelihood Funds(RCLF) are used in all levels of government and society.
The report unveils that RCLF has no means of reporting progress to government stakeholders, except through ad hoc audits done by the auditor general which have to date not been circulated even within the government.
However accountability from programs in the case of Rural Development Program(RDP) and Provincial Constituency Development Fund(PCDF) shows reasonably strong with each convening regular project committee meetings and sharing progress reports.
However the report reveals there are limited to no accountability mechanisms in place between communities and service providers to monitor the quality of service deliveries.
It was further found that while there have been disputes regarding land and other natural resources, this has not escalated to violence.
The report recommends all programs to provide more visual printed materials to affected or beneficiary communities to develop a better understanding of how these programs work.
Social accountability mechanisms such as community scorecards is recommended to enable community members or beneficiaries to hold service providers accountable for the quality of service delivery and not just the quality of infrastructure constructed.
The report further calls for a realistic financial auditing approach which reflects capacity requirements, regular public reporting requirements including information on funding allocations, expenditures, types of activities funded and recipients, and social accountability mechanisms to allow citizens to monitor the use of funds in their communities.
Meanwhile modern technology is encouraged to be used to allow community members to easily communicate and provide direct feed back to program management units and allow public to have access to these information online.
By DANIEL NAMOSUAIA