• CDF is predominantly administered by politicians who belong to different political parties.
• It will be difficult to detach partisanship from the CDF as long as management of the fund remains as it is.
• Government must look at it in that way as they begin to review the guidelines.
Zambian Association of Citizen Contractors (ZACCO) says Constituency Development Fund (CDF) remains the potential source of opportunities for players in the construction industry, particularly contractors.
Speaking to Money FM News, Association General Secretary Danny Simumba commended government for increasing CDF allocation in the 2023 national budget from the current K25.7 million to K28.3 million.
Mr. Simumba stated that contractors will benefit from the CDF because part of it will be used to construct schools, clinics, water and sanitation infrastructure in the respective constituencies countrywide.
He however said it will be challenging to attain fairness in the distribution of the CDF owing to its partisanship nature of disbursement, because the fund is predominantly administered by politicians who belong to different political parties.
“You will realize that the CDF is predominantly administered by politicians who belong to different political parties, the ruling party, and those in the opposition and also independent MPs. So this means that it will be difficult to detach partisanship from the CDF as long as management or administration of the fund remains as it is because everything is centered on politicians.”
“Even if there is an element of citizen participation, that is not prominent and it cannot influence and stop the partisanship from dominating. Yes we know that the CDF will be administered using the Public Procurement law, that is just a law but there is also human activity involved in there,” Mr. Simumba said.
Mr. Simumba noted that the CDF remains a good initiative which may not be inclusive in terms of participation of those who are not aligned to any political party, hence the need for government to look at it critically as they review the guidelines.
“On paper it may appear that everyone can participate but when you look at it critically you discover that because of the element of partisanship, where politicians are in total control, the CDF remains a good initiative which may not be inclusive in terms of participation of those who are not aligned to any political party and we feel we should engage in dialogue, and see to it that this seemingly partisan nature is managed well so that no one feels left out.”
“We thought as ZACCO we needed to appeal to the government to look at it in that way as they begin to review the guidelines because we heard the Minister of Finance mentioning in Parliament that the guidelines will be reviewed,” he added.
