THE recent revelations that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has not helped to reduce high poverty levels both in rural and urban areas, and that poverty levels have continued to escalate despite the country recording economic growth cast doubts on how effective our political representatives have been in their Public Relations (PR) with their respective areas.
Zambia Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)’s survey report revealed that CDF hasn’t contributed much to poverty alleviation in both rural and urban areas.
And Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary in charge of economic management and finance, Felix Nkulukusa said poverty levels have continued to escalate despite the country recording  economic growth.
Such a statement has been common in our country for almost a decade now.
Both reports shed more light on how effective our political institutions are functioning and how our political leaders are representing the electorate and facilitating community development processes in their respective areas.
This translates in assessing how effective our political institutions and representatives are in their PR-related functions.
The purpose of this article is to show some of the challenges some members of Parliament (MPs) and councilors might be experiencing to effectively facilitate good governance and development-related projects in their respective areas.
In the process, this article tries to remind our MPs and councilors of the fact that learning is a continuous process that helps individuals, especially political representatives, to improve on their performance in facilitating poverty reduction-related development projects.
Zambia practices indirect democracy. This means that at regular intervals, citizens elect political representatives of their choice to represent them in democratic institutions such as local authorities (LAs) or councils and National Assembly.
What elected representatives debate and resolve in these democratic institutions should represent the views and serve the interests of the electorate who sent them to such institutions.
Resources in form of allowances, loans and CDF are provided to our civic leaders to facilitate effective representation of the electorate, culminating into timely and high quality service delivery to local communities. To achieve this, allowances to councilors and CDF have now been increased.
CDF is one of local community development funds that the Government releases for development-related projects in local communities.
As ZIPAR survey report revealed, most of such CDF projects have been shoddy and short-lived in local communities with little or no impact on poverty alleviation.
As a result, Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council (NGOCC) Board chairperson, Beatrice Grillo said 80 per cent of women were wallowing in poverty. How comfortable are our civic leaders with such negative reports?
Until recently, few or no political representatives said CDF fund wasn’t enough to facilitate meaningful development in local communities.
To ensure that representative democracy is a success, the Government facilitated construction and establishment of constituency offices almost in each constituency to enable MPs to regularly meet their respective electorate.
But we have learnt through media reports that most of our political representatives rarely visit their areas to interact with voters and share views and plans for development projects that address local community-felt needs.
Some local community members have literally petitioned their councilors or MPs to come to their respective areas and share development views that should be presented in council meetings or in the National Assembly.
It is reported that some councilors and MPs even changed their mobile telephone numbers which they gave their electorate during the campaign period to avoid such voters ringing them on issues affecting their respective wards or constituencies. Such an attitude can create doom to the democratic dispensation and sustainable development processes.
Moreover, Zambia is not only a representative democracy but is currently aggressively implementing the Decentralisation Policy that empowers citizens at the lowest level to determine their own destiny through airing their voice in decision-making institutions and processes at every level of governance and development.
It is against this background that President Sata has on several occasions urged MPs, including Government ministers, to visit their constituencies to explain development programmes and learn about the needs of the electorate in their respective constituencies.
What is also worrying is how low our analytical skills are both as political representatives and citizens not to realise that CDF was supposed to be allocated according to the size, population, poverty
levels and existing socio-economic infrastructure and levels of demand for socio-economic infrastructure in an area. To allocate the same amount of CDF to every constituency regardless of such factors for many years since CDF came into being was a serious oversight on our part.
As political representatives, MPs and councilors are supposed to have demographic and socio-economic infrastructure data base of their respective areas. Such statistics would show our civic leaders gaps in
providing socio-economic infrastructure, facilities and services according to respective community needs and expectations.
Civic leaders are also supposed to have a list of stakeholders in their respective areas for effective liaison on a regular basis and whenever need arises.
Armed with such information at one’s finger tips, civic leaders can debate governance and development-related issues with authority and confidence in their respective institutions. Members of the public have, in most cases, complained that the quality of debates among many MPs and councilors is below expectations because most political representatives have no facts and figures relating to the areas they represent.
From what has been happening in the past, one cannot wonder why we have high voter apathy and little or no citizens’ active participation in local community projects.
Low and poor PR in our political representatives have created both high voter apathy and low citizens’ participation in governance issues and development projects.
For democracy, decentralisation and the recorded economic growth to benefit local community members, civic leaders are supposed to work closely with their respective local communities and organizations, including Government institutions.
Political representatives are supposed to feel free to explain to their electorate that CDF is too little to address all development-related projects in the local community.
Such a fact can make most electorate and other stakeholders to actively participate and contribute labour, material and financial resources to local community projects.
But because there is little or no interaction between political representatives and their electorate, most citizens don’t know that they have a duty and responsibility to participate and contribute labour, materials and financial resources to satisfy their own development needs.
More community development projects can be implemented using local resources if there is good rapport between representatives and their respective communities. Effective community mobilization, for resource mobilisation for a just cause is part of effective PR.
But local community resource mobilisation starts with regular and effective interaction between a representative and the local community.
Effective local community resource mobilisation starts with demonstrating high levels of integrity in one’s representative leadership.
In short, local community members can participate in and contribute any resource to community development-related projects if there is mutual understanding and benefit between the local community and the political representative.
Where there is mistrust between local community members and the political representative, sustainable development process can be a pipe dream in that local community.
It is argued that good governance (democracy) and high poverty levels don’t exist side-by-side. Why does it seem to be the case in Zambia?
It might be because our civic leaders aren’t effectively representing their electorate.
Former Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) Chipata Central MP, Mathews Mwale said how MPs campaign for elections and how Parliament and Government work are two different things, adding that there is a lot MPs and councilors can learn on how to represent their areas effectively.
But when one talks about the need for effective PR in MPs and councilors, one doesn’t mean that these should now start enrolling themselves for Diplomas, BAs, MAs and MBAs or PhDs in PR from various universities, including those offering such programmes online.
Merely knowing and developing skills in effective rapport with respective areas like those of former United National Independence Party (UNIP)’s MPs and councilors under Dr Kenneth Kaunda’s administration which facilitated remarkable development projects throughout the country are enough knowledge and effective skills in PR.
Former UNIP leaders did it without diplomas or degrees in PR. Current MPs and councilors can also do it without such paper qualifications but with good rapport with their respective areas.
It is gratifying to learn that Kabwata Constituency is the richest among all constituencies in our country. This proves how Kabwata MP, Given Lubinda and the councilors in this constituency have managed effective PR in their respective areas. Congratulations Hon. Lubinda and all Kabwata Constituency councilors!
It is hoped that before we celebrate Zambia’s 50th Jubilee, most constituencies and wards will emulate Kabwata Constituency in facilitating fast development processes in their areas.
Citizens’ high and active participation in governance and community development projects is a sign of mutual understanding, benefit and goodwill between an elected political leader and the local community.
(The author is a PR Trainer and Consultant. For comments and ideas, contact: Cell: 0967/0977 450151; E-mail:sycoraxtndhlovu@yahoo.co.uk)