A Survey of the Need for Cdf Audit Committee and Its Role in Promoting Accountability in the Management of Constituency Development Funds: a Case Study of Bomet District

Abstract

Constituency Development Fund (COF) has been a topical issue in Kenya today since its inception in 2002. The fund was created to devolve funds to the constituency level and its contributions to poverty eradication has not been without challenges hindering its intended purpose. Among the challenges facing CDF is gross mismanagement and lack of accountability from the people entrusted with the fund. The aim of this research project was to detennine whether there is a need for the establishment of audit committee and its role in promoting accountability in the management of COF in Bomet District. The research study was undertaken in the four constituencies of Bomet District. It was hypothesized that there was need to create audit committee in CDF which is independent and answerable directly to either the CDF National Board or to the Minister for Finance. This was a descriptive survey and the data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was designed to identify the role of the audit committee in promoting accountability in the management of COF. The population of interest of this study were COF units in Bomet. They included the senior CDF staff, district accountant, committee members, Community Development Assistant (CDA) professional representative, local authority representative and youth leader. The results of this study indicated that majority of the respondents expressed the view that there is need for Audit Committees and that it would help to promote accountability in the management of COF. Therefore, it can be concluded that Audit Committees should be established under CDF if accountability and improved management of CDF is to be realized in line with its predetermined objectives.