MP, constituents tussle over projects
Some constituents in Blantyre South West Constituency have accused their parliamentarian Kennedy Kachingwe of failing to finish development projects in the area during the period between 2014 and 2019.
Meanwhile, the concerned constituents say they have referred the matter to Parliament.
However, attempts to get a comment from Clerk of Parliament (CoP) Fiona Kalemba proved futile as she could not be reached on her mobile phone while parliamentary spokesperson Ian Mwenye said he needed more time to verify if the issued reached the CoP.
But in a petition we have seen dated July 5 2019 addressed to Blantyre district commissioner (DC) Bennet Nkasala, the constituents cite six development projects under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which they claim are yet to be completed despite being fully funded.
Among the projects, according to the petition, are sheds for produce markets, clinics, classroom blocks and teachers’ houses.
In a telephone interview yesterday, chairperson of the group Abner Somba claimed that the concerned citizens failed to get assistance from the DC’s office; hence, their decision to take the matter to higher authorities.
“When we approached the DC, he did not help us; hence, we had to seek assistance from elsewhere. We asked the Clerk of Parliament to help us and she told us to wait for her office to decide what to do.
“Otherwise, had we got assistance from the DC, we would have not gone anywhere else.
“We want answers on those projects that are yet to be completed despite the fact that money was exhausted,” he said.
The constituents further claimed that the Blantyre DC’s office barred them from holding peaceful demonstrations against their MP on July 19.
However, Mwenye yesterday said he needed time to check whether the said complaint was registered with the CoP and how it was disposed of.
Reacting to the accusations, Kachingwe dismissed the petitioners, saying they were being dishonest.
He said: “I have also been made aware about those claims but I can assure you that these people do not have a case.
“The projects that they are talking about are for CDF and we decided to spread them across the constituency.
“In the course of doing that, whenever we received funding, we were distributing across all the projects, as such, some delayed. But the remaining works are mostly at completion stage. Otherwise, this is the work of my detractors who are not happy that I won the seat again.”
However, in a telephone interview yesterday Blantyre DC Bennet Nkasala, while acknowledging receipt of the petition, denied having dismissed the complaints by the constituents.
“All I know is that our office advised those people to follow the right channels,” he said. Apart from CDF, parliamentarians access funding through Local Development Fund (LDF) and District Development Fund (DDF).
