Enhanced CDF Allocation Must Address Implementation Challenges, Urges JCTR

As Zambia witnesses a consistent increase in the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocation, the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has voiced concerns regarding the effective implementation of these increased funds. While acknowledging the potential for significant economic transformation at the community level, the JCTR highlights various challenges that need urgent attention to ensure the enhanced CDF achieves its intended goals.

The CDF allocation, which is set to rise to K30,600 million per constituency in the 2024 National Budget, holds the promise of bringing about meaningful change and development at the grassroots level. However, the JCTR emphasizes that several issues must be addressed to maximize the impact of these funds.

The challenges identified in the implementation of the enhanced CDF include:

Lack of Transparency: Transparency in the allocation and utilization of CDF funds has been lacking, with minimal community participation in the public bid opening for contractors.

Accountability Issues: Information sharing and monitoring reports related to CDF have been limited, resulting in low accountability in its implementation.

Community Participation: Many community members have not been actively involved in selecting community projects under the CDF.

Low Utilization Rates: A significant portion of allocated CDF funds remains in the accounts of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, indicating low utilization.

Weak Implementation Structure: The existing CDF architecture lacks the necessary strength to ensure that the funds reach the intended beneficiaries effectively.

Executive Directives: Numerous executive directives on CDF resource utilization have compromised community participation in decision-making.

Beneficiary Database Monitoring: Weak mechanisms exist to monitor beneficiaries who may be double-dipping from CDF by belonging to multiple cooperatives or applying to various constituencies.

Political Influence: CDF has been used as a campaign tool by politicians, raising concerns about political interference in its implementation.

Capacity Issues: Limited staff at the Local Authority level has affected the management of CDF projects.

Cooperative Management: Poor management of cooperatives after receiving grants has resulted in their disbandment.

Comprehensive Audit: There has been a lack of a comprehensive audit to evaluate the value for money on all CDF resources.

The JCTR emphasizes that increasing CDF allocation without addressing these challenges could lead to political hijacking of the funds, diverting them from their primary purpose of poverty alleviation and improving living standards.

To address these issues and ensure the enhanced CDF meets its intended goals, the JCTR recommends the following actions:

Relocate Scope Management: Transfer the management and implementation of skills development and bursaries to the Ministry of Education at the district level.This is because the
ministry has more capacities to implement this scope than the Local Authorities.

Empowerment Management: Transfer the management and implementation of empowerment (loans and grants) to the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development at the district level.This is because the ministry has more capacities to manage loans and grants as witnessed
with other initiatives like the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission loans

Community Project Management: Leave the Local Authorities responsible for managing the community project scope.This is because they have more capacities and knowledge on the Integrated District Plans (IDPs). This will boost implementation of CDF in contributing to the 8th NDP

Monitoring and Evaluation System: Invest in developing an integrated monitoring and evaluation system to capture data on all CDF-related projects across constituencies.

Inter-constituency Collaboration: Create a platform for inter-constituency collaboration, encouraging joint projects and sharing of best practices.

Comprehensive Audit: Conduct a comprehensive audit to assess the value for money of all CDF resources allocated thus far.

The JCTR’s recommendations aim to ensure that the enhanced CDF allocation fulfills its potential in driving community development and improving the lives of Zambian citizens.

For further inquiries, the Faith and Justice (F&J) Programme at the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) can be contacted at 0955295881 and 0954755319, or via email at [email protected] and [email protected].