By Innocent Manda
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Dr. Ben Phiri, has assured Malawians that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is safe and that no politician will access the resources.
Speaking during an exclusive interview on MBC on Sunday, Phiri said according to the Public Finance Management Act, only councils led by District Commissioners (DCs) are mandated to manage the CDF and all other finances meant for local council development initiatives.
“Let me assure Malawians that their funds are safe and my ministry is committed to transparency and accountability in the utilisation of these public resources,” the minister emphasized.
The Minister lamented misinformation which he said led the public to believe ward councillors now control CDF allocations, contrary to the fact that councils remain the established custodians of the fund under government structures.
“The funding isn’t being given to the councillors, the court said the funds go to councils but with a supporting vehicle to help implement projects,” said Phiri.
According to Phiri, his Ministry will use the similar set guidelines and standards used in the councils’ management of the World Bank funded Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) Programme, which has proved effective and led to successful implementation of up to 90 percent.
The Minister, however, acknowledged the need to further build capacity of the councils to better manage the CDF. He said this is already underway as government has already shifted some DCs and has also deployed engineers to oversee council construction projects in order to ensure competent people manage the council’s resources.
The minister further warned that his Ministry will not relocate or transfer an incompetent individual to another district , arguing that poor performance cannot be corrected simply by relocating an individual from one district to another.
“If the officer is incompetent in Thyolo, it simply means he will be incompetent in Mzimba, we’re now shifting toward performance-based accountability,” Phiri said.
The CDF discussion was one of the key topics during the 52nd Parliament session as Members of Parliament passed the Constitution Amendment Bill on CDF after it was raised from K220 million to K5 billion.
