NGO-GCN urges citizens to track public expenditure
NGO-Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN) has urged Lilongwe residents to track public expenditure to ensure that public funds are used for intended purposes.
The network’s coordinator, Victor Maulidi, said this in Lilongwe on Thursday on the sidelines of Public Expenditure Tracking training for people from Traditional Authorities (T/As) Kalolo and Masambankhunda in the district.
money is spent
Said Maulidi: “In the past, people thought that Constituency Development Fund [CDF] is money from the member of Parliament’s [MPs] pocket; hence, when the MP abused it nobody questioned. The constituents had no courage to track how the money had been spent.
“We have trained the community in public expenditure tracking so that they should always be vigilant on how public money is spent.”
Maulidi added that when public resources are put to right use, everyone at grass roots, including vulnerable groups such as women and girls, benefit.
The training was part of the organisation’s project on public expenditure tracking which is funded by National Democratic Institute (NDI)/USaid and is being implemented in Lilongwe, Balaka and Machinga districts.
Lilongwe district community development officer Anne Kamwendo commended NGO-GCN for the training, saying it will ensure that duty-bearers such as MPs and councillors are transparent and accountable on how they use LDF [Local Development Fund] and CDF.
