Law No. 6 of 2014 on the Village obliges the central government to allocate the Village Funds from the national budget for the improvement of public services, community empowerment and rural development. According to the records of the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (Kemendes PDTT), until the end of 2016, at least 120,000 km of roads, 1,960 km of bridges, 5,220 village markets, 5,116 boat moorings, 2,047 retention basins and 97,176 irrigation facilities have been constructed. In addition, 291,393 soil retaining walls, 32,711 clean water facilities, 82,356 baths/toilets, 6,041 village polyclinics and 45,865 wells have also been constructed.

However, various forms of misuse of the Village Funds have also appeared in large numbers. Based on the results of the monitoring of Indonesia Corruption Watch, from 2015 to 2017, the number of cases of corruption at the village level is rising. In 2015, there were at least 17 cases, and this number increased to 41 cases in 2016 and 96 cases in 2017. Within the three-year period, there have been at least 154 cases of corruption at the village level with the amount of state losses reaching Rp 47.56 billion.

Furthermore, out of the 154 cases of corruption at the village level, the majority of them, or 127 cases, are related to Village Funds. The majority (112) of the perpetrators of the corruption at the village level are village heads. Of the rest 32 are village officials, and 3 are family members of village heads. The modes of corruption also vary, ranging from budget misuse, budget embezzlement, fictitious report/activity/project, or price inflating.

The data show the poor governance of village funds. Even village heads and village officials, who are supposed to manage village funds for the benefit of the community, are part of the practice of irregularities.

The vulnerability of the Village Funds to abuse is also acknowledged by the government. So in July 2017 the Village Funds Task Force (Satgas DD) was created, chaired by Bibit Samad Rianto. This task force is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the use of village funds, formulating related policies, and accepting and following up reports of alleged irregularities of village funds. Unfortunately, until now there has been nothing of significance done by the Task Force in the face of corruption of village funds that is increasingly increasing.

The potential of misuse of village funds is increasing in the run-up to the 2018 regional elections. There is a large possibility that the village funds will be used as a new source of funding for the regional election. Reflecting on the previous simultaneous elections in 2017, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) found indications that the slow disbursement of village funds is deliberately done to disburse the funds immediately before the regional elections.

The same thing may happen in the coming simultaneous elections. In addition, incumbent heads of regions running for local elections are also likely to use village funds for their private interests in the context of winning local elections, because there is no requirement for the head of the region to resign; they are only expected to take leave of their duties.

It is important for all parties, including the villagers, to oversee the local elections in their respective regions to ensure that village funds are not used for political purposes. It is also important for the village head and the village officials to be independent and to focus on village empowerment and welfare. (Tari/Snyt)