Chiefs in Balaka District have resolved to strongly join hands and hold Members of Parliament accountable on funds used in the implementation of Constituency Development Fund Projects. This came out after realizing that most MPs do not clearly explain, let alone, have supporting documents on how CDF is used in projects meant to benefit members of the community.
The resolution was made after presentation of findings during the District Interface meeting which was held on 10 December 2019 in Balaka where officials from the District Council, Civil Society Organisations, Members of the Community, Councillors and other concerned stakeholders were brought together.
The District Interface meeting was aimed at presenting findings collected from the first phase of the Public Procurement Monitoring System branded Civic Participation in Public Procurement for Better Resource Allocation (CPPP-BPRA).
During the meeting , it was pointed out that MPs take advantage in the manner in which they handle CDF because the guidelines of CDF empower an MP to have an upper hand when managing CDF projects, for instance, it is clear in the guidelines that when Councils are paying service providers under CDF projects, Member of Parliament has to provide written request to the DC first to release funds , and the Councils in this context only follow what they have been requested to pay without questioning further details.
Having noticed this, members of the community and the chiefs agreed to take a leading role in holding MPs accountable for they are the ones who voted them into those positions.
“We as chiefs in Balaka need to be united and follow CDF expenditure because the funds are meant to benefit ordinary citizens, and, MPs are our children, we can easily call them to enlighten further on how they are implementing CDF projects,” Clarified Chief Sosola.
Commenting on this issue, officials from the office of the District Commissioner appreciated the findings and they clarified that the Council only follows the guidelines and if there were more queries, MPs ought to be approached and map way forward.
Forging ahead, officials from the DC promised members of the community present during the interface that Balaka District Council would start displaying project expenditures on Notice Boards for everyone to have easy access as well as easy tracking of projects being implemented in various areas within the District.
CONGOMA is implementing CPPP-BPRA in three districts namely Balaka, Lilongwe and Rumphi with financial support from the European Union through Tilitonse Foundation.