adminThe CDF has made some progress in addressing various developmental projects in a number of constituencies, thereby transforming local communities.
It was introduced in the 2010 national budget with the aim of supporting development efforts at local levels and complementing the various other programmes and projects at national level.
Under this fund, MPs were expected to play their leadership role in the planning and execution of those local and community projects with an immediate impact on the livelihood of the communities.
It would concentrate on the construction of boreholes, the repair of schools and clinics, the building of market stalls and other such projects.
The CDF was not intended to replace or compete with local authority structures and ministries’ decentralised structures.
Furthermore, the CDF would not be a parallel structure to any of the established structure but a mere vehicle in respect of which an elected MP has an opportunity to make and deliver real change to the local community.
Some legislators in constituencies that have been so far visited by Chronicle such as Bulawayo South, Insiza North and Umguza have made significant efforts in developing their constituencies using the CDF to drill boreholes and rehabilitate schools among other things.
In 2012, each MP is going to get about $38 000 against the $50 000 they received from the previous allocation.
Following this revelation, the Minister of Parliamentary and Constitutional Affairs Advocate Eric Matinenga said the CDF was never sufficient and he was yet to come across any functionary that would be happy with the allocation.
Confirming the $38 000 CDF allocation Minister Matinenga said: “If the Minister of Finance (Mr Tendai Biti) says that is what is in Treasury then that is what is there and legislators have to make do with the available amount.
“It is not a mere estimate but the $8 million is real money that he is going to disburse.”
Also speaking about the $38 000 CDF allocation, the House of Assembly representative for Bulawayo South constituency, Mr Eddie Cross (MDC-T) said he would have liked the allocation to be more but unfortunately the $38 000 was what was available for each MP.
“In the context of budget financing, the money is not enough. We were promised something this year but we still have not received anything,” he said.
Mr Cross said the allocation was less than that allocated in the 2010 fiscal budget probably because of other priorities facing Treasury.
“There has been the issue of civil servants and a significant amount of the budget had been directed towards their salaries. We will try and make the available amount work and see how far it goes,” he said.
Mr Cross said in his constituency, Bulawayo South, priority would be given to Ward 21 comprising Tshabalala and Sizinda.
He said they had spent a lot of money in the rehabilitation of Barham Green Primary School in Ward 6 using the previous allocation.
“From the previous allocation, our returns came up to $70 000 because we had to attend to a lot of things in the constituency but we will have other priorities this time around,” said Mr Cross.
Residents in Bulawayo have bemoaned the reduction of the CDF allocation from $50 000 to $38 000, saying legislators could not do much with the $50 000 allocation and were worried if anything meaningful would be done with the $38 000.
Mrs Margaret Ndlovu, who stays in Paddonhurst under Bulawayo East constituency, said the fact that there is less money at their disposal means there would be less projects in the constituency.
She said as a result, less people were likely to benefit from the CDF.
“When the money was at $50 000, nothing much was done in our constituency, that I know of, which means that the $38 000 would be marginal in comparison and no meaningful development would be seen,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
She said in her constituency, she had not yet witnessed any developments emanating from the Government but there was a private contractor who had been developing Paddonhurst Shopping Centre.
Mrs Ndlovu suggested that lawmakers should prioritise before putting their allocations to use to ensure that the little money that is available is not wasted.
Referring to what she deemed as priority in her area, Mrs Ndlovu said the roads in the area were in need of rehabilitation.
She said measures should be taken to complement the efforts being made by the Bulawayo City Council to repair streetlights in the area.
“We also have a problem with the stench coming from Matsheumhlophe River which could be emanating from poor sewer reticulation thereby contaminating the river and this should also be made a priority following the next CDF allocation,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
Mrs Ndlovu said the $38 000 CDF allocation should not be given to legislators that had still not accounted for the previous CDF allocation.
She said this would only cause confusion thereby defeating the whole purpose of agitating for transparency and accountability when dealing with public funds.
“Given the background of the $50 000 CDF allocation where some MPs failed to account for their allocations while others diverted the money for personal use, stringent measures should be used to govern this money, more so now that it is far less than the previous allocation,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
The Member of Parliament for Luveve Mr Reggie Moyo (MDC-T) said:
“While we appreciate that Government does not have adequate resources, members of the public have such high expectations such that at the end of the day they remain disappointed.
“The $38 000 is too little and legislators will not be able to embark on big projects and this is compounded by the fact that we did not receive a CDF allocation this year, and we have a number of projects that are yet to be completed.”
In addition, MP Moyo said House of Assembly representatives had appealed to the Minister of Finance to revise the allocation and give them at least $50 000.
“We, however, appreciate that the economy is not as stable as it should be and we are therefore forced to work with what is there,” he said.
Turning to the MPs that had abused the previous CDF allocation, MP Moyo said the law should take its course because prior to the 2010 CDF allocations, it was made clear that every legislator was to account for their allocation.
“We need good local governance and we cannot continue to invest in a bottomless pit,” he said.
Online Reporter