Lusaka, 02 October, 2023 / 3:00 pm (ACI Africa).
Members of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) have criticized the Zambian government’s failure to address challenges that impede the implementation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in the 2024 budget before increasing the fund.
The 2024 budget has increased the allocation of CDF from K28.3 million (USD 1.3million) to K30.6 million (USD 14.5million).
JCTR Executive Director, Fr. Alex Muyebe says while the increased CDF “has a potential of bringing about a huge economic transformation at the community level”, the implementation of the fund given to constituencies for development purposes is faced with challenges that needed to be addressed before the new allocation.
“The JCTR is seriously concerned with increasing the CDF allocation without first addressing the … challenges which evidently are impeding transparency, accountability and community participation in the implementation of CDF,” Fr. Muyebe said in a statement on September 30.
He added, “Without addressing these challenges, the CDF will continue to be hijacked by politicians. This will derail it from achieving the intended goal of alleviating poverty and improving the living standards and conditions of people in Zambia.”