THE disbursement of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and its utilisation continues to generate interest from concerned members of the public in various locations.
A recent meeting in Luangwa District under the auspices of the Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) highlighted several concerns on the disbursement of the Funds and its management.
The case study also brings to the fore, what might be transpiring in other constituencies and the levels of anxiety in the handling of CDF.
In a brief by AVAP, the residents of Luangwa appreciated the community meetings discussing how the community could take part in the monitoring, usage and management of the CDF among other Government programmes.
The approach of the discussions said AVAP executive director, Richwell Mulwani was to sensitise the people on the need to hold office bearers and public service workers accountable.
Mr Mulwani said the communities in the various wards where the meetings took place, appealed to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to continue working with organisations that could empower the local people with skills and information on corruption.
This is one sure way of ensuring communities got involved in the systems of monitoring the use of public funds such as the CDF amidst continued abuse of the funds by some public office holders.
During a public forum in Kavalamanja, the residents of Amoro Village raised concern over the administering of CDF in Luangwa and their alleged exclusion in the whole process.
“The people were concerned with the exclusion of community members from participating in the monitoring of community projects and were particularly agitated that contracts were awarded to people from Lusaka who were sourcing bricks and other raw material from Lusaka when local materials were available in the area,” Mr Mulwani.
The concern was also voiced by communities in Mphuka, Mandombe, Dzalo, Lunya and Mwalilia, areas, where they aired different opinions on the usage of the Funds, such prioritising of projects.
The rationale of building a wall fence at Luangwa High School, whereby the community had prioritised the construction of a classroom block at Chilukusha Community School, was questioned. They said pupils at the community school were having lessons in huts and they needed a classroom block but the CDF was diverted towards the construction of the wall fence at Luangwa High School.
The ward Councillor of the area, Bruno Phiri pointed out that the wall fence at Luangwa High School was not a priority to the community.
During another stakeholders meeting, the residents complained over what they perceived as exclusion in the implementation of CDF projects, accusing the council of formulating decisions on their own, without engaging the community members.
Mr Mulwani said the concern of the community was mainly on consultation when planning which projects should be undertaken and of what benefit would it bring to the affected community.
He cited another case from Amoro Village were the residents complained about a contractor’s decision to reduce the size of dormitory at Chirombwe High School from the original plan after the project was approved.
“The local people complained that the contractors were not local people and in most cases the projects were abandoned before completion,” he added.
From the concerns raised by the communities, it is clear that there is a problem of being sidelined, as felt by the local people additionally the people cited alleged corruption during the tender awarding process and purchase of materials.
The local people voiced their concerns saying no community member was present to witness the purchase of materials as per the bill of quantities.
“The people made it clear that in most cases wrong material were purchased and of low quality,” Mr Mulwani.
The local Constituency Development Committee (CDC) complained that they had failed to monitor the community projects embarked under CDF even when the guidelines provided so.
The AVAP noted that it was clear from the meetings that there was a gap in between the councillors, the contractor and the council hence making it difficult for the implementer to be held accountable.
Mr Mulwani said the community members had difficulties to carry out public expenditure tracking despite contributing their 25 per cent community contribution to the project in terms of labour and local
material mobilisation.
They further cited other examples to prove their point, such as the construction of a maternity ward at Mwalila Healthy post where the builder allegedly did not know who was supposed to pay him because the contractor had also sub-contracted someone to construct the maternity ward.
“The people complained that these were among some of the issues that led to the non-completion of some community projects because money was going in different hands despite well approved budget regulations,” he said.
AVAP observed that the community members expressed concern that the CDF guidelines were allegedly abused because the Area Development Committees (ADCs) were being ignored during project identification creating a breeding ground for corrupt acts.
Additionally it was noted that the process of approving projects from Lusaka was also contributing to corrupt practices because contractors were imposed on the people.
“The people of Luangwa are wondering how one contractor was awarded all the contracts in Luangwa when there were many contractors that competed for the various projects,” the AVAP official said.
AVAP appealed to the Ministry of Local Government to revise the guidelines so that these could confirm to community needs that target poverty reduction.
Judging by the magnitude of the community’s concerns on the disbursement and management of CDF, there is reason for authorities to take up this matter and tackle it thoroughly.
In some instances, the communities observe that some projects ended up not completed because of sub-contracting, which creates doubt as to who pays for the project, hence the construction works were abandoned prematurely.
Another scenario worth noting is the influence that communities had on projects they felt were of close benefit than another.
The case where a wall-fence was constructed at Luangwa High School instead of a classroom block at Chilukusha Community School, suggested that the priority on the needs of the community were not addressed.
These and other cases need tackling, community partnership in the implementation of projects is vital as this are on the ground and could play a major role in monitoring, budget tracking of the various projects.
Communities should not be ignored in this process of implementing CDF projects because they were the major stakeholders and beneficiaries of projects being implemented in their respective areas.
If need be, the CDF guidelines should be revised to favour the communities.
Additionally AVAP should be commended for organising the meetings and we hope this doesn’t end with Luangwa as many other places could be experiencing similar challenges and they want to air their grievances or satisfactions using a similar platform.
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