Parliamentarians on Thursday got their wish. Parliament passed the controversial CDF Constitution (Amendment) Bill. But it may be too early for the MPs to celebrate as some concerned stakeholders have vowed to fight the legislation in courts and do whatever it takes to stop it.
The legislation now awaiting President Peter Mutharika to assent to, gives the MPs powers to approve projects to be funded by the Constituency Development Fund which from the next National Budget which starts on April 1 2026, will be hiked to a mouthwatering K5 billion.
For obvious reasons, the Bill had to be expedited. Tabled as a Private Members Bill (No. 2 of 2025) by Mzimba South member of Parliament Emmanuel Chambulanyina Jere on November 27 2025, it was designed to bypass the 28-day waiting period and all other scrutiny. Speaker of Parliament Sammeer Suleiman quickly referred it to the Legal Affairs Committee for scrutiny and supposed stakeholder consultation.
Against a backlash from several quarters, the Legal Affairs Committee also wasted little time to recommend that MPs should have the authority to approve projects under the CDF. Justifying their decision, the committee argued MPs’ role will be restricted to approving the projects which it says is distinct from financial management which would remain with the district councils in line with the Public Finance Management Act.
While the MPs argue this will address concerns about separation of powers, a horde of stakeholders such as the Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) and a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) have a different view. They want MPs to have nothing to do with CDF as per the Constitutional Court ruling in May this year which declared that CDF guidelines were problematic and removed MPs from managing the fund directly. The court ruled that giving MPs executive functions such as managing funds violated the principle of separation of powers.
The amendment, therefore, remains contentious and Malga has vowed not to take the development lying down. Malga contends that the High Court decision reinforced the cornerstones of decentralisation, premised on separation of decision-making between those at the central government level and those at the local level.
Calling on MPs not to entertain the infamous Bill, the entity also describes the amendment as a betrayal of trust, and a blatant disregard of the rule of law and core principles of decentralisation.
Malga then assured Malawians last week that: “Should in the unlikely event that the infamous Bill is enacted into law, we will proceed to challenge its constitutionality in Court without any delays”.
On its part, the National Advocacy Platform (NAP) has described the Bill as a grave act of institutional greed and a betrayal of public trust, and a “constitutional regression and a dangerous effort to weaken accountability in the management of public resources”.
The group calls on Malawians and civil society “to remain vigilant and organised to resist parliamentary self-interest through lawful means, including public demonstrations, peaceful assembly at Parliament, and constitutional legal challenges by a willing constituency where necessary”.
So, that is where we are now. Where they have a special common interest, MPs always work together. If they will have power to approve projects, it goes without saying that they will also have powers to disapprove projects. In short, they will still be calling the shots regarding what project to fund or not.
But all is not lost. The legislation is now in the hands of Mutharika who can sign the contentious piece of legislation into law and pit the legion of irate stakeholders against MPs in court, or avoid all this hullaballoo by refusing to sign it.
MPs’ job is oversight, lawmaking and policy directions, not covertly micro-managing projects in their constituencies disguised as approving projects.
