People in 36 newly-designated constituencies may have to wait longer before they start benefiting from Constituency Development Fund (CDF), which the proposed 2025/26 National Budget has not yet provided for.
This was one of the issues that local council authorities highlighted during a meeting with the parliamentary cluster committees on Local Authorities and Health in Lilongwe last Wednesday.
Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) executive director Hadrod Mkandawire has since noted Capital Hill should have allocated funds for the new constituencies, which will be operational after the September 16 2025 General Elections.
He observed that funding delays to the new constituencies may breed unnecessary bickering.
Said Mkandawire: “The issue has been raised because it is likely to cause unnecessary bickering and disagreements between the members of Parliament from the newly-created constituencies and council secretariats.”
When contacted, Treasury spokesperson Williams Banda said the new constituencies will be allocated resources at the Mid-Term Budget Review.
The Mid-Term Budget Review usually commences in mid-November, which would mean the new constituencies will have to wait for six months or more before accessing CDF.
Said Banda: “On CDF, the plan is to provide for the new constituencies at mid-year in line with other implementation requirements since budget is a law.”
Asked if they will still access the full amount of K200 million, Banda could not come out clearly, only stating that the allocation will be based “on approved plans and capability to absorb since resources lapse at the end of the year”.
The wait for CDF follows The Nation’s revelations last year that new constituencies were starved of development as most members of Parliament (MPs) focused on where they will compete in the forthcoming elections.
Some communities in places such as Phalombe openly shared their frustration with how their MPs have ignored their welfare since the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC)-facilitated constituency redemarcation exercise, which left the communities in a new constituency.
With the additional 35 constituencies, the total number of parliamentary seats will now be 228 from 193, raising the K36.6 billion CDF allocation to K45.6 billion.
The National Assembly wage bill will also increase substantially to cater for the new constituencies.
While in the 2024/2025 National Budget personal emoluments were around K13 billion, it now jumps to K22 billion, based on estimates captured in Budget Document Number 4 (Volume 1).
In 1994, the Malawi Parliament had 177 MPs before a redemarcation exercise increased the number to 193 in 1999.
The new re-demarcation will see the Northern Region having 37 constituencies from the current 33; the Central Region will have 20 new constituencies from 73 to 93, while the Southern Region will have 98 constituencies, an increase of 11 from 87.
