RURAL districts lack the capacity to spend the K4 million allocated in the supplementary budget, Western province Governor Dr Bob Danaya said last Wednesday.
He said most of the districts did not have the manpower, logistics support, resources and infrastructure to handle such a large amount of money.
Moreover, it was a lot of money to spend over a short period of time, he said.
“It would have been better to reserve the windfall for the 2008 budget,” he said in a statement.
“It raises a lot of concerns when large sums of money accumulate in the districts, particularly when the year is almost ending and the festive occasion is just around the corner.”
Dr Danaya said experience in the past had revealed that funds remaining after the books were closed were open to abuse, misuse or simply stolen by politicians and public servants.
“It is very sad that such bad accounting practices continue to exist in the system and this should be a cause for concern for the Government,” he added.