Delays in the disbursement of funding for the reformed K5 billion Constituency Development Fund (CDF) have stirred panic among local councils who fear there could be underutilisation of resources.
But Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Ben Phiri has played down the fears, insisting that the flagship development resources envelope is on the right track.
Implementation of the reformed CDF, hiked from K200 million to K5 billion per constituency in the K10.9 trillion 2026/27 National Budget, was expected to roll out on July 1 2026 despite the government’s fiscal year starting on April 1.
CDF alone claims K1.145 trillion of the national budget allocations.
In separate random interviews yesterday, local government authorities (LGAs) decried the delays in disbursement of the funds.
Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation spokesperson Williams Banda acknowledged the delays, but said Treasury will initiate disbursement this week.
He said: “This is just the first week of July and government will disburse the funds to National Local Government Finance Committee [NLGFC] before this week ends.
“As a ministry, we are ready to send funds to NLGFC which acts as a treasury for all the councils.”
Banda said NLGFC was obliged to facilitate the opening of separate CDF bank accounts for each LGA.
However, NLGFC executive director Kondwani Santhe referred The Nation back to Treasury on CDF queries.
Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) executive director Hadrod Zeru Mkandawire said the delayed disbursements undermine the credibility of budget execution and threatens effectiveness and efficiency in utilisation of public resources at the local level, projects and services delivery.
He said the Local Government Service Commission in collaboration with the individual LGAs is finalising the recruitment of constituency work supervisors, accountants and procurement officers to support CDF implementation.
Said Mkandawire: “You may wish to know that all the local authorities have advertised for the works under CDF for the projects identified and aggregated by the local level structures and approved by the councils.
“In order to strategically reposition the constituency development committees to effectively discharge their responsibilities, all the authorities have trained these committees.”
On reports that some councils were yet to open separate CDF bank accounts, he said all LGAs opened bank accounts as advised and submitted the details to the Accountant General for onward submission to the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
In a separate interview, Phiri said government is on track to roll out the CDF despite LGAs facing a three-month funding lapse.
Said the minister: “The only hiccup was deployment of 697 CDF staff that were supposed to report for work to various constituencies yesterday but I can assure you they are going to report by the end of this week.
“What you must understand is that government has already managed to capacitate councils with relevant staff, constituency development committees and CDF guidelines.”
Phiri said most LGAs have advertised CDF jobs and that access to CDF funds will be based on demands from constituencies through their secretariat.
In his reaction, Parliamentary Committee on Local Authorities and Rural Development chairperson Edward Chileka Banda said they are closely monitoring the situation after conducting assessment in some selected councils to check preparedness for CDF rollout.
He said the government announced that the rollout will be in July and, as Parliament, they are also waiting.
Said Chileka Banda: “Fortunately, Parliament is meeting from next week and we should be able to establish the status of disbursement because a lack of funding has crippled a lot of work in the constituencies.
“The CDF is not just for new projects but also has a window for maintenance of various infrastructure such bridges and teachers’ houses to the tune of K250 million and this money has not been given even in part. The year is fast cruising towards other quarters and as a committee, we are closely monitoring.”
Centre for Social Transparency and Accountability executive director Willy Kambwandira said as the financial year elapses, the prospects of fully and prudently disbursing K5 billion per constituency are becoming increasingly unrealistic.
He cautioned the Executive against treating the CDF as a political announcement and instead demonstrate institutional readiness before releasing such enormous public resources.
Last month, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Principal Secretary Dingiswayo Jere told the Parliamentary Local Authorities and Rural Development Committee that recruitment of constituency work supervisors, accountants and procurement officers to support implementation of the expanded fund is underway.
He said 687 personnel will be recruited to serve all 229 constituencies, adding that Treasury has already released K252 million to facilitate the recruitment exercise.
On the other hand, NLGFC budget analyst Jonathan Banda said K3.9 billion has been released to constituencies for preparatory activities, but noted that actual fund disbursement will be phased and dependent on resource availability.
