Parliament sets CDF deadline

Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Parliament has set Friday this week as the cut-off date for Members of the National Assembly to submit applications for the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), as the legislative body set tough conditions to avoid abuse of Government money.

Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda said the conditions included submission of minutes of an inaugural meeting of the CDF committee on how the money would be used.

Adv Mudenda made the announcement in the National Assembly last week. Government introduced the CDF to enable legislators to spearhead community development projects in their constituencies.

In his announcement, Adv Mudenda said the deadline allowed for the processing of applications on time.

“You should also submit names of CDF committees in compliance with the constitution of the fund,” he said. “In other words, if you don’t, you will not qualify.”

Adv Mudenda said the application should be accompanied by curriculum vitaes of committee members of the CDF and an independent bank account with names of signatories.

The announcement followed the recent adoption of tough guidelines on the use of CDF as part of measures to enhance accountability and curb abuse by the legislators. The guidelines include the nature of development projects that could be funded and the involvement of administration of Parliament.