Parliament seals loopholes on Constituency Development Fund: MPs demand increase up to K200m
Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee on Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has sealed loopholes on Constituency Development Fund (CDF) following rampant abuse of the fund by council officials.
Among the measures are that the council should open a special current account for CDF.
The money will only be used for CDF projects.
The National Assembly will have to recruit CDF desk officers who will handle the CDF in local councils.
Procurement will also have to engage local communities.
The CDF will have to empower businesses in the constituencies and only suppliers from the constituency will be engaged.
MPs will also have to oversee every stage of the CDF projects starting from identification of the project to payment of suppliers.
There should also be penalties for those that violate guidelines.
The committee has also recommended that the bursary allocation be pegged at 10 percent of the annual CDF allocation and not fixed at K3 million.
It has also called on the government to be increasing CDF every year saying the fund is having a positive impact in constituencies.
Mulanje Bale MP Victor Musowa proposed that CDF be increased from K40 million to K100 million for MPs to effectively deliver on their promises and also meet the demands of the constituencies.
He says K100million will see development flourish.
According to Musowa, the current allocation of CDF is too little to implement projects that MPs promise and in the end, they are seen as failures.
He says that is the reason most MPs fail to retain seats.
Rumphi West MP McLean Yona Mkandawire has called for stiffer punishment on people that abuse CDF.
He says MPs are failing to embark on projects because some council officials are abusing the fund.
Mkandawire says MPs are accused of squandering the money when Council officials are the ones abusing the fund.
He has since demanded a shakeup of Rumphi District Council saying the Council is full of bad apples.
Mkandawire says Rumphi will not develop if Rumphi District Council is allowed to operate the way it is operating and with the officials in place.
Collaborating, Rumphi East MP Kamlepo Kalua has accused District Councils of using the CDF to fight MPs.
He says Council officials discredit MPs just to protect their interests.
Kalua sided with Mkandawire on the need to arrest and penalise the Council officials for abusing the fund adding that instead of punishing the officials, MPs are the ones being discredited.
Kalua then proposed that CDF be increased to K200 million so that more projects are carried out.
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The MP’s are also useless and corrupt themselves. Please dont increase the amount.
i like the idea of promoting business mmadera komwe CDF ili…kumagula katundu komweko, that will be good
As long as those shops belong to indigenous citizens
Banganya apa mwanena zauneneskopa RU council nadi pali ziheni izo abo bakugwira nchito bakuchita.Rumphu is not developing at all .Look at Bolero which we thought could tick after Kamuzu made it a rural growth centre. It is now in tatters with no tangible progress in development.How can a director stay in one district for over 10 yrs without being transfered? I would suggest bringing in chewas or lomwes and tumbuka s shoud go to chewa or lomwe land.
The job of MPs is to make legislation and not to oversee local development projects
With this thinking Malawi can’t develop. CDF is not necessary. It’s just a away for mls to get money. The councils already have district development fund. This is where all the development money is channeled. Our mps are just thieves.
Capacity to supply materials we don’t have in constituency
Your Constituency because its in the jungle not all ie Mzimba Central, Blantyre City South, Lilongwe Central, Mulanje Central…..as for others that don’t have get to the nearest but they should not be the MPs or Councillor’s or mwenye shops, it should be for a bonafide Malawian kkkkkk
We used to have good rural development in the era of one party state without getting MPs involved. Councillors identified the needs together with chiefs in their wards. During every youth week, bridges, roads, school blocks, bus stage shelters etc were all constructed/ maintained. There was no this nonsense of CDF abuse by MPs conniving with District Council officials.If the old way was effective and efficient, why not go back to it?
Actually Kamlepo is spineless and without values. He lacks principles and behaves like chaff blown by wind. Mbendera pa desk. Kkkkkkk. From a hero to zero, from statesman to cadet. Soni nazo mulive
Koma anyamata awa akakumana zomwe amakambirana kkkkkk . MP jobs is policy making not kumanga ma bridge
This is proof enough that they only become MPs for the sake of money