CDF ABUSE - Report cites nepotism as cash channelled to fund degrees for family connections

A compliance audit of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) by the Auditor General’s Department (AuGD) has unearthed cases of nepotism within the agency managing the $1.26-billion programme that operates out of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

In a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the Auditor General’s Department identified instances of payments to connected parties.

“Steps should be taken to establish objective criteria and clear guidelines for the implementation of educational development projects to ensure that these projects are administered in a fair and transparent manner and reduce the risk of exploitation, nepotism, and misuse of funds distributed for these projects,” Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis stated in her recommendation to the OPM.

The AuGD found that payments amounting to $190,000 for the years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 were made to a university on behalf of an employee of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, who was actively involved in the implementation of CDF projects at the ministry, to offset the cost of a postgraduate degree.

Another case involved payments totalling $670,850 in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 to another tertiary institution from the CDF of a member of parliament on behalf of the MP’s relative to offset the cost of a bachelor’s degree.

The audit uncovered another instance in which a beneficiary who received financial assistance totalling $92,000 is the child of an employee of the CDF Programme Management Unit – the agency that manages the funds.

For the period under review covering 2015-2016 to 2019-2020, the auditor general identified 21 beneficiaries who received a total of $2,465,900 to offset educational expenses at private educational institutions. Of this number, one family received financial assistance totalling $1,170,000. The father of the beneficiaries was an employee in the constituency office of a former member of parliament.

The auditor general said that the absence of established objective criteria and documented guidelines to manage the implementation of educational development projects increased the risk that these projects were not administered in an equitable and transparent manner. She warned that this might facilitate the exploitation and misuse of funds allocated for these projects.

Citing inadequate controls over educational development projects, Monroe Ellis said that CDF initiatives should be developed based on the needs identified through consultation with constituents at meetings, which are mandatory and held in each constituency at least once every two years.

Projects geared at educational development are eligible for funding under the CDF. The objective of these projects is to provide financial assistance to needy students attending basic, primary, secondary, tertiary, and vocational training institutions to offset school fees, examination fees, the cost of uniforms, books, and other relevant school supplies for students in each respective constituency.

Responding, the OPM-CDF Programme Management Unit said the findings of the audit would “be brought to the attention of the CDF Parliamentary Committee and consultation will be had with the MOFPS (Ministry of Finance and the Public Service) with respect to guidelines and established criteria”.

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