IT is inspiring to meet a Member of Parliament, who beams with success when it comes to implementation of various projects in a constituency.
This is the story for Rufunsa, where MMD MP Kenneth Chipungu, has managed affairs for two terms but his desire to drive development remains a cornerstone of his focus.
Born in 1953 and married with seven children, Mr Chipungu, a former Minister of Youth and Sports in the MMD government, has tackled various developmental hurdles for the people of Rufunsa since 2006 when he won the seat.
“I was driven by the desire to serve the people. I didn’t have the dream of becoming a politician, even now I still think I am not a politician but a servant for the people that elected me into office,” Mr Chipungu said expressing his humbleness to the constituents of Rufunsa, located some 50 kilometers east of Lusaka.
He attended primary school at Regiment Primary School and proceeded to attend secondary education at Munali Secondary School.
Mr Chipungu’s work experience spans from 1977 when he worked as an agricultural manager for the Refined Oil Products (ROPE) to around 1990, when he concentrated to work in the private sector, at the same time he stepped a foot in the political arena.
He joined the public service as a District Commissioner for Chongwe in 2002 and for Luangwa in 2006 before contesting the Rufunsa seat.
Holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce with a major in marketing, Mr Chipungu also served North Western Province Minister up to the demise of former president Levy Mwanawasa and was appointed Sports Minister by former president Rupiah Banda.
Rufunsa Constituency has seven wards, and Mr Chipungu boasts of achieving tangible developmental in the areas of health, education and the road sectors.
In the health sector, Mr Chipungu said progress has been boosted by the utilisation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
He said the development committee in his area has strived to build or renovate health infrastructure in at least every five kilometer location.
He said added to this effort, the Constituency was blessed to have been earmarked as a recipient of 11 health posts from the 650 that
Government has targeted to put up around the country. The education sector was at some point faced with challenges of dilapidated infrastructure but Mr Chipungu said through team work, he had managed to reshape the face of the education sector in his time as area MP.
“We have managed to construct new schools and renovated some using the CDF and this has been our focus in the past years and we want to continue on this path,” he said.
Teacher houses have also been constructed, as this has been another area of concern to the people.
Rufunsa Girls Technical School, Chinyunyu and Mupanshya Secondary schools are the other source of pride for the Constituency.
“We have good education infrastructure even in the remotest of areas in Rufunsa. All schools are well stocked with desks. We might have a problem with teachers but this is a matter that requires a long-term
solution but we pushing and getting there,” he added.
He said being a new district, Rufunsa will also benefit from projected infrastructure growth and investment.
The road sector is also coming into shape as most roads leading to various community centers are easily accessible.
He said in areas such as Chomba and Chipeketi, the Road Development Agency in collaboration with the Rural Roads Unit, were working to improve areas that were in a deplorable state.
Mr Chipungu added that again using the CDF, the constituency has managed to put up about five roads and these and other developments have made Rufunsa accessible and opened up various investment opportunities.
On challenges, Mr Chipungu cited clean drinking water as one of them adding that the area lacked adequate boreholes.
However the hurdle doesn’t end at just letting it exist but efforts are being drawn to find other means of sourcing for funds to improve the situation.
“We shall continue to rely on the CDF allocation and we will use it to continue putting up boreholes as we also lobby for Government’s intervention in this area,” he said.
He added that, “now that Rufunsa has been elevated to district level, we shall see increased investment and this will be good for the area, especially with the coming on board of the private sector, we hope to see some development taking root soon”.
Another area of concern is power connection, which Mr Chipungu said was vital to spur development.
He observed that connection to the country’s power grid would be another milestone achievement.
Despite the hurdles outlined, Mr Chipungu is a determined MP and wants to continue on his success story and be remembered after his term ends, as a man that contributed to reshaping Rufunsa and positioning it on the path to prosperity.
CDF has continued to draw concern from different partners of development, the latest institution to express this, is the Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW).
The ZUFIAW raised concern and submitted that, “there is urgent need for law enforcement agencies in Zambia to follow up on irregularities highlighted in the Auditor General’s report”.
ZUFIAW president Ackim Mweemba said stakeholders concerned with the development of the country, were particularly worried with the silence by the investigating agencies, on what action they would take on the massive misappropriation of public funds as has been reflected in the Auditor General’s reports.
“The PF administration has spent lots of money in building capacity in the Auditor General’s office and that the office has shown signs of efficiency in its reporting. In the past the reports used to take years to be released but this has changed. Every year, the reports have unearthed many irregularities in the way public funds and other resources are misapplied and misappropriated, but still nothing is happening to curb this problem,” he said.
If left unchecked, Mr Mweemba said the lack of action against the erring officers in the use of public funds would lead to people losing confidence in the government’s commitment towards fighting corruption.
“The Auditor General’s reports should not be a mere academic exercise but rather a process of identifying mistakes and correcting them in order to achieve prudent management of public resources,” he added.
This concern by the ZUFIAW is one shared by many and it is important that action on erring officers should be taken to curb the misuse of the CDF as highlighted in Anna Chifungula’s reports.