Kathmandu: The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has said it will summon Kathmandu Metropolitan City chief Kedar Bahadur Adhikari and seize all documents related to the procurement of materials used in the Kathmandu clean-up drive “National Volunteer Campaign”—the pet project of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.

“We are taking this issue seriously. All the documents related to materials procured for the clean-up campaign will be seized tomorrow,” said CIAA Secretary Bhagwati Kumar Kafle. The details provided by KMC sources reveal the officials involved in the campaign have gobbled up around Rs. 1.2 million of the total Rs. 20 million budget allocated for the programme, jacking up prices of logistics and publicity materials such as masks, gloves and pamphlets as much as ten times their current market price. KMC officials also breached the legal procedures in purchasing materials while procuring 30,000 pieces of masks at the rate of Rs. 17 and 30,000 pairs of gloves at the rate of Rs. 30. Similarly, the KMC printed 350,000 pieces of pamphlets at the rate of Rs. 1.5 per sheet. However, the same pair of gloves are available at Rs. 5 in the market, while a mask costs Rs 3.20.
The Prime Minister’s Office has launched a separate probe into the matter. On Monday, Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire summoned Adhikari over the alleged misappropriation of the campaign funds.

Source: The Kathmandu Post, April 11, 2012