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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