NGOs investigate CDF usage

The head of a local non-governmental organization (NGO) Liberia Accountability Voice Initiative Mr. James Shiloh says his group and nine other local NGOs are working in the fifteen counties with citizens in knowing how the County Development Funds have been used.

He told UNMIL Radio on Thursday morning, 12 January that citizens in the various counties here have been wanting to know how their lawmakers are using County Development Funds or CDF allotted in the budget amid lack of so many things in their counties.

He announced that an initiative sponsored by the USAID was on to increase citizens’ participation to know how the County Development Funds have been used. Mr. Shiloh claimed that lawmakers were not making use of the County Development Funds, saying that the funds should be used to meet the needs of the people in the various counties.

In an interview conducted by the NewDawn newspaper on Thursday, a resident of Barnersville in Montserrado County electoral District #11 Chris Williams said some [citizens] do not even know that there is a County Development Fund for each county because there was no impact being made in his County.
“Our lawmakers do not have … the citizens at heart because they only know us when they want to get into power. But this time around we will not be fooled again, we will vote wisely”, Williams said.

He claimed that lawmakers here blind their eyes on things that should be done for the Country, citing an instance that most lawmakers travel without doing anything when they take their “agriculture break”.

By Ethel A Tweh-Editing by Winston W. Parley