In the midst of pushing for disbursement of the reformed K5 billion Constituency Development Fund (CDF), legislators have had a rude awakening after being told they cannot have project contract copies.
The arrangement is part of the changes to the CDF, which Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Ben Phiri announced through a ministerial statement delivered in Parliament in Lilongwe on Tuesday.
In the statement, the minister also announced that to tighten loose ends in the implementation of CDF, his ministry has introduced standardised architectural designs and Bills of Quantities (BoQs) to promote uniform project quality, realistic costing and value for money.
The decisions—especially the one drawing clear red lines for MPs—signal how far CDF has shifted from MPs to councils, a change now backed by both policy and Malawi’s courts.
Lilongwe City Lumbadzi member of Parliament (MP) Denis Kalekeni Chalera (Malawi Congress Party-MCP) had earlier queried why city council officials refused to share with him a copy of a contract for a road project in his constituency using resources carried over from the previous CDF budget.
He said: “I was informed that I am not entitled to have a copy of that particular contract and yet, I am supposed to provide oversight based on the guidelines that have been provided in that document.
“I need to perform my oversight duties, and it will be difficult to carry out this responsibility when I do not possess a single guideline that I can use to question whether things are going in accordance with what was agreed or not.”
Phiri’s response was blunt: “We cannot say members of Parliament should begin having copies of contracts that the contractor has signed with the council. That will create a circus.”
He, however, said transparency will be in place through the project sign board which shows the name of the project, the client, the funding window, amount and implementation period.
The minister also said government has developed school bursary guidelines and a digital CDF dashboard to improve transparency, accountability, monitoring, and service delivery across local authorities.
“The adoption of these standard designs and BoQs will enable local authorities to implement projects using uniformed specifications and realistic cost estimates, thereby minimising cost variation for similar projects across the country,” he said.
In the past MPs were accused of single-handedly identifying or influencing projects under CDF, but Phiri told the National Assembly that the responsibility now incorporates other structures, notably area development committees (ADCs), village development committees (VDCs), constituency development committees (CDCs) and ward councillors.
He also said that to strengthen the oversight and accountability function, the ministry developed a reformed CDF digital dashboard to facilitate real timeframe for monitoring projects implementation by local authorities.
“Once operational, the dashboard will enable members of Parliament, local authorities and other stakeholders to monitor the implementation status of their projects, procurement processes and financial performance of the projects in real time,” said the minister, who is also Thyolo Central legislator.
However, Nsanje Central legislator Francis Kasaila (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) was more concerned with the lack of a link between the CDCs and the three key staff officers at constituency level since they are supposed to report directly to the councils.
“They are very key in supporting the communities. Without that link, we may create a little bit of some friction,” he feared.
In response, Phiri said that while the CDF staff contracts include their job description on the reporting lines and to whom they will be answerable, they will still be working directly with the CDCs.
Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) executive director Hadrod Zeru Mkandawire, in an interview yesterday, said the request by MPs to be furnished with copies of project contracts was an overreach into administrative and operational business of local government authorities.
He said: “The measures [as outlined by the minister] are in compliance with the High Court decision in the case of the Registered Trustees of Malawi Local Government Association v The Attorney General which was very emphatic on the separation of powers and further restricted members of Parliament overreach into local government daily business.
“Active involvement of MPs not only undermines the core principles of decentralisation, but also poses a threat of politicisation of local level development where the roles of the council members and council technocrats is hugely eclipsed and undermined resulting into sub – standard projects, incomplete projects and ghost projects.”
National Advocacy Platform (NAP) chairperson Benedicto Kondowe, who chairs civil society network on CDF, said the system needs strong enforcement, independent monitoring, transparency in procurement processes and consequences for those who misuse CDF resources if the initiative is to register success.
“Standardising architectural designs and BoQs, introducing digital monitoring systems, and strengthening reporting and oversight mechanisms can help reduce cost variations, improve quality control and minimise opportunities for abuse of public resources,” he said.
Centre for Social Transparency and Accountability executive director Willy Kambwandira said the proposed CDF dashboard risks becoming another costly duplication of the World Bank-funded Governance to Enable Service Deliver (Gesd) Project Management Information System (PMIS) which has already consumed significant public resources but continues to face resistance and limited uptake by local councils.
Each of the country’s 229 constituencies will receive K5 billion for implementation of development projects, translating into a potential national envelope of roughly K1.145 trillion. Previously, the CDF amount was K200 million.
