Local Government Service Commission Chairperson, Ackson Sejani, has expressed displeasure with the slow implementation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) by some Local Authorities in Eastern Province and the Country as a whole.
Mr Sejani says despite the Commission recruiting qualified staff in all the positions, there are still some gaps in the utilisation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
The Chairperson was speaking at the Formation of the Human Resource management Committees for Local Authorities in Chipata District, of Eastern Province.
“There are some deliberate under utilisation or non-utilisation of Constituency Development Fund CDF by some councils which seems as though officers are on holiday and are paid for not doing their job,” he said.
Mr Sejani further stated that the local authority has devised a bi-annual performance appraisal tool, that will be used to grade the performance of councils in the implementation of CDF projects, above other available annual performance appraisal systems.
He has however warned principal officers and heads of departments in Local Authorities to ensure efficient and effective functioning of councils, as the commission will not shy away from taking punitive measures against responsible officers and their directors for poor performance.
The Mr Sejani further said the commission is not going to hesitate to apply the provisions in the disciplinary code to deal with such behaviours.
And one of the local authorities cooperating partners, Chief of Party for USAID Local Impact Governance Project, Wilfred Mwamba, said the organisation will continue to help Zambia to strengthen the local governance for better service delivery.
Mr Mwamba says the USAID Local Impact Governance Project, has so far supported the decentralization of 490 Ward Development Committees (WDC) across the 14 districts in Eastern Province and the training of over 7 thousand members as well as boosting the local revenue generation.
“We work to improve efficiency and responsiveness of the local authority as such, the local impact conducted a 10 days tax compliance sensitization in Chadiza, Nyimba and Petauke,” He stated.
And Chipata City Mayor, George Mwanza, has called on human resource committees to work towards attaining a goal that is going to be beneficial to the general citizenry.
Mr Mwanza said there is need for council workers to improve on service delivery by changing their attitude towards work.
