400 Colombian mayors who left office Sunday are investigated because they failed to report what they did with funds sent to their municipalities for victims of last year’s destructive rainy season.
The disciplinary and fiscal investigations against approximately 40% of the municipal leaders are carried out respectively by the country’s Inspector General’s Office and Comptroller General’s Office.
If proven that the mayors have mismanaged the funds allocated for immediate aid to the approximately 2 million victims of the rainy season and the reconstruction of local infrastructure, the authorities in charge can impose the ex-mayors fines up to $20 thousand.
According to Colombian press agency Colprensa, the Prosecutor General’s Office said the massive investigation of former mayors serves to ” create a culture among local governments regarding the given orders; that they must be complied with.”
Colombia’s national government last year allocated 2.5 trillion pesos, equal to $1.3 billion, to municipalities and departments for aid and reconstruction.