CDF suffocates other windows

Members of Parliament (MPs) celebrated the doubling of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations in the 2024/25 National Budget, but the gesture has come at the expense of cuts in allocations to healthcare, education and roads.

In a letter dated January 24 2024 to councils that The Nation has seen, National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) chief executive officer Kondwani Santhe detailed how the CDF was prioritised over other services.

He said: “The ceiling for rehabilitation of hospitals has been reduced by 30 percent from a total of K20 billion to K14 billion. The ceiling for rehabilitation of municipal roads has been reduced by 23 percent from K26.1 billion to K20.1 billion.

“The ceiling for the Constituency Development Fund has been increase by 100 percent from K19.3 billion to K38.6 billion and the ceiling for construction of teachers’ houses has been removed from the councils’ votes.”

Santhe said following the changes, all affected budgets should be revised accordingly and fresh budgets submitted for NLGFC to consolidate by March 8 2024.

He said: “In addition to this, I would like to communicate the 2024-25 ceilings for procuring blood and blood products from the Malawi Blood Transfusion Service [MBTS] and the ceilings for procuring medicines and medical supplies from central medical stores which have been estimated at K3.34 billion and K30.96 billion. respectively.”

In an interview yesterday, Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) executive director Hadrod Mkandawire said government was prioritising political expediency and convenience over substantive and meaningful local development.

He said: “CDF is not local development fund because the powers and authority of which project should be approved and allocated remains with an individual who is an MP. That defeats the whole essence of decentralisation which hinges on the principle of power to the people.”

Mkandawire said the reduction was unfortunate and “a mockery to district development plans which have been championed for some time”.

Accountability expert Willy Kambwandira said Santhe’s communication confirmed that even those that are supposed to provide oversight on CDF are also powerless.

He said: “It raises serious questions as regards accountability of the CDF.

“We are not surprised that CDF has been subjected to abuse and looting at an industrial scale. Just like any other public fund CDF projects ought to adopt set standards and must be subjected to monitoring and supervision.”

In the 2024/25 National Budget delivered in Parliament on Friday, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda said government will continue with the implementation of development projects in the local authorities.

He announced an allocation of K6.19 billion for the District Development Fund, K2.3 billion for the construction of water structures under the Water Resources Fund and K922 million for infrastructure development fund.

Earlier, Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda urged MPs and local councils to be accountable for allocated resources.

In his State of the Nation Address delivered in Parliament on February 9 2024, President Lazarus Chakwera hailed increased development projects due to the CDF, saying, “I for one would like to build on it to keep our recovery going”.

From an allocation of K1 million in 2006, CDF was raised to K3 million in 2013, K10.5 million in 2016, K19.5 million in 2018, K30 million in 2019, K40 million in 2020 and K100 million in 2022/23 financial year.