Sh495.6M in NGCDF Projects Left to Rot — Auditor Exposes Shocking Waste
Projects worth Sh495.6 million in 29 constituencies funded under the **National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) have been left incomplete or abandoned. This is despite a 68.1% increase in annual allocations to the fund which rose to Sh74.8 billion from Sh44.5 billion in the previous period.
The NGCDF was created to channel resources directly to grassroots communities through each constituency and supports projects like school construction, security projects and bursaries for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The fund is managed by local committees that are supposed to ensure development priorities are met.
According to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, stalled projects mean communities have not benefited from the benefits that completed projects would have brought and taxpayers have not gotten value for their money.
Her audit of the year ending June 2024 also revealed more worrying trends: projects worth Sh696.99 million in 65 constituencies had poor workmanship, structural defects and irregular procurement practices — indicators of mismanaged contracts.
The report also flagged:
- Payments made for incomplete or non-existent works.
- Failure to brand projects which increases risk of duplicate entries in financial records.
- Lack of proper documentation and handover process, some completed projects do not have official certificates.
Additionally, the Auditor General found Sh26.7 billion in unspent funds across all 290 constituencies as of June 30, 2024 — a recurring issue often linked to delayed disbursements from the NGCDF Board.
These findings will likely reignite calls for tighter oversight of the constituency fund which has been under scrutiny for poor accountability and wastage.
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Sh495.6M in NGCDF Projects Left to Rot — Auditor Exposes Shocking Waste