President Hakainde Hichilema suspects that the low uptake of funds from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in certain constituencies is deliberate.
Opening Parliament last Friday, President Hichilema expressed his concern over what he suspects are deliberate actions to avoid undertaking developmental projects funded through the enhanced CDF, which currently stands at K30.6 million.
Hichilema said members of Parliament who may be doing that were not punishing him or the government but were being unfair to and punishing their electorates. He advised the people’s representatives to use the CDF effectively as a tool for development, which could also get them re-elected.
He further announced that the CDF allocation would be increased again in the 2025 national budget.
When the UPND took office, the CDF budget was a paltry K1.6 million, which immediately increased to K25.7 million in its first budget in 2021, then K28.3 million in 2022 and K30.6 million in 2024.
The fund was also enhanced to cover secondary and vocational education and training, grants, loans, and other categories to support devolved governance where the affected people make decisions on development.
Reports, however, have continued to emerge of unspent funds. Some citizens also claim to be unaware of how to access the different forms of CDF financing.
In his address, President Hichilema stated that so far, in 2024, K485 million had been disbursed to women, the youth, community groups, and businesses countrywide as grants and loans through CDF.
