A total of 6,000 complaints have been filed at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority against local levels in one fiscal year – an indication of the growing tendency of non-transparent expenditure, sub-standard works and gross misappropriation of funds

Rameshwar Bohara: Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal

Taking into consideration the complaints of blatant misuse and misappropriation budget and authority by the local levels and provincial governments, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), anti-corruption constitution body, on 15 Mangsir 2076 issued a 61-point directive in the latter’s name.

The CIAA concluded that the local levels and provincial governments were involved in gross misuse of funds and lack of transparency while exercising their authorities such as the implementation of plans and projects, providing services, requisition and purchase, management of employees, social security allowances and facilities, the recommendation of public lands, among others.

This could be one of the reasons why former Prime Minister and senior leader of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Madhav Kumar Nepal on Mangsir 2, 2076 vehemently criticized the local governments for plundering the development budget instead of spending it on development projects. “The local levels have misappropriated the funds. They are apathetic towards people’s problems. Accumulating wealth has been everything for them.”

The 61-point directives issued by CIAA came as a piece of an unwelcoming indicator for the local and provincial governments formed and considered to provide services to the people at the local levels. These bodies have been labeled as governments to provide services to the people at their doorsteps. Unfortunately, all these indicate that the local level and provincial governments have utterly failed to provide good governance to the people in their first innings.

To recall CIAA’s directives to the local level governments, the anti-draft constitutional body had warned against squandering the budget without getting it endorsed from the assembly, misappropriating the budget, and mentioning expenses in unnecessary topics.

The CIAA had also warned against allocating financial support and distributing budget to individuals and organizations based on nepotism and political affiliation. The anti-corruption body has also referred to the instances of breaching the jurisdiction by the local level office bearers while allocating budget. For example, ward members, deputy-mayors, among others are making decisions and allocating budgets in the absence of ward chairpersons, and mayors. The CIAA had also warned people’s representatives against making verbal decisions that are against the law by ignoring legal provisions. 

Likewise, the CIAA in the directives has categorically pinpointed the gross misuse of authority by the people’s representatives while handing over/implementing projects, allocation of the budget at the local levels based on administrative-political influence without the participation of concerned stakeholders. 

The CIAA, in its directives, has also alleged the people’s representatives of abusing their authority by misappropriating the development funds by making duplicate bills of the same product repeatedly. 

The local levels are also accused of forming user committees by nominating office bearers based on nepotism, and not following the legal process of holding a meeting of all concerned stakeholders. Meanwhile, in some cases, government teachers and people’s representatives have also been found to be engaged in user committees.

The CIAA has also pointed out the misuse of authority while giving away the contract of local-level projects and construction. For example, the CIAA has found the local governments to have paid the amount to the user committees without being sanctioned by the Technical Evaluation and Monitoring Committee.

The CIAA has also pointed out the repeated allocation of misappropriation of funds on the same project, mainly on the construction of roads and tracks opened without getting it sanctioned or without proper study of its environmental impact. Even though the rampant openings of tracks have led to landslides, floods, among other natural calamities, the local authorities tend to allocate budget every year in the same project.

“That has been an abuse of authority through rampant use of funds in the name of taking private vehicles on hire and misusing them by ignoring the prevalent processes in the local levels,” CIAA has in its directives said, adding, “It has also been found that recommendations have been made against the law which has affected the revenue collection while certifying roads, land, birth, death among others. While black-topped roads have been certified as gravel roads, married ones have been certified as unmarried. Local authorities are keeping the official stamps and letter pads in their homes and functioning official works from the home itself thus misappropriating the revenue by failing to keep the record.”

Complaints piled up

Question arises. What compelled the CIAA, an anti-corruption constitutional body — to issue such a directive to the local bodies? The reason is appalling. Until last year the CIAA warned the local bodies to refrain from repeating mistakes and misappropriating funds by sending letters based on complaints received. The CIAA had not taken the anomalies seriously after the formation of the new state structure. However, the CIAA was taken aback when the number of complaints against the local levels started to pile up.

“Taking action by investigating the alleged abuse of authority and misuse of funds on the basis of complaints could be a way out to end corruption. However, by doing so, this will only weaken the local levels – considered the foundation of democracy,” an official at the CIAA said adding, “We issued the 61-point directives to the local levels, as per the suggestion of the CIAA Chief Commissioner, with the conviction to make reforms at the local levels.”

Sources claimed that the CIAA used four ways to resolve the complaints it receives. First: To file cases with evidence. Second: To keep the case under consideration if evidence of irregularities is not found during the investigation. Third: To postpone the case. Fourth: To give directives if the work has not been accomplished or lack of evidence of work not being carried out is found. The CIAA resolves any problems by adopting these methods.

The CIAA received a total of 24,000 complaints of irregularities in the fiscal year 2075/76. Out of these, over six thousand complaints i.e. 25 percent of the complaints were related to anomalies at the local levels. Currently, most of the complaints the CIAA receives are related to local levels. This has been mentioned in the CIAA’s annual report of last fiscal year prepared and submitted to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.  

According to the data included in the annual report, out of the total 753 local levels, eight complaints have been filed against each local level on an average. This is a signal of vulnerability and threat to the local governments. Says Krishna Prasad Sapkota, former president of Federation of District Development Committee, “The number of complaints at the CIAA indicates that local levels, provincial and federal level have a bunch of corrupt people. This also indicates that these bodies have bad governance.”

If the number of vacancies at the local and provincial governments is to be considered, there is still a dearth of staffers in these bodies. While the Center is alleged to not appointing sufficient employees, the provincial and local levels have not been able to appoint employees themselves due to the absence of law. The Federal government has failed to acquaint the local and provincial levels of the new system and practice. The government is least bothered by the problems faced by the common people in their day to day work.

So much so that the province and the federal governments have failed to monitor the pros and cons of the local levels resulting in the rise of anomalies. “I don’t claim that the local levels have done commendable works. The image of local levels has deteriorated due to its non-functional attitude and failure to perform and deliver,” Sapkota says. “Problems have piled up owing to various reasons, including the lack of process.” One of the reasons for the problems is a lack of competent manpower, according to Sapkota.

Government’s arrogance

The Chief District Officer (CDO) of Darchula, a couple of weeks ago, summoned a chairman of a rural municipality of Darchula district for interrogation following complaints of financial irregularities against the chairman. The CDO, who works as the representative of the CIAA in the district, had summoned the rural municipality chief for interrogation in the capacity of the CIAA representative. The rural village municipality reacted saying, “How dare you interrogated me when you are junior to me in the hierarchy?”

Says an official at the Ministry of Home Affairs, “This has been a common practice in several districts. CDOs have been treated in such a way.”

Local-level authorities have been non-cooperative to the government authorities and CIAA representatives while investigating complaints of irregularities. Local-level representatives, including the mayor and rural municipality chairpersons, are refusing to cooperate with the CIAA representatives saying: “We are part of the government, and we make policy decisions. That’s why the CIAA cannot intervene in our decisions.” CIAA Spokesperson Pradeep Koirala, however, says the CIAA has not put the local level decisions under the jurisdiction of policy decisions.

Koirala said, “We had convened a meeting of mayors, deputy mayors, rural municipality chairpersons, and vice-chairpersons in all the seven provinces soon after elections in which we had raised the issue that our decisions would be policy-wise.”

“We had then very clearly stated that the Council of Ministers means Federal Council of Ministers and that we will not keep them (provinces and local governments) under this jurisdiction,” he added.

Even though the local levels try to keep their financial irregularities under wraps in the pretext of policy, the reality is far more different. There are instances of rampant irregularities while making public procurement-related works and lack of transparency in financial dealings at the local levels by ignoring CIAA directives. Most of the financial dealings at the local levels are carried out that in contradiction to the CIAA directives as well as the procurement act and regulations. There are also instances of depositing the amount in the bank account of the users’ committee before completing a project. The CIAA is in a state of confusion in this regard.

The CIAA said the local-level authorities have breached the public procurement act and regulations while purchasing automobiles. The local levels are involved in irregularities while making specifications, and the price of the same vehicles are different in other local levels.

The local levels have completed half of their term after the local level elections held in 2074. It’s been already two-and-a-half-year in authority. Several walks of life have argued that it is high time that the performances of the local levels are evaluated.

Former President of Federation of District Development Committee, Krishna Prasad Sapkota highlighted the need for introducing ‘reward and punishment’ based on strict evaluation of both good and bad performances of the local levels. “In case of unintentional mistakes, they need to be given a chance for correction,” he says. He, however, emphasized the need for taking stern action against those who have misused his/her authority and are involved in financial irregularities deliberately. “The authorities concerned should be effective,” he suggested. According to him, the political parties, too, need to watch the illegal activities of the people’s representatives.”