By Jubiel Zulu
The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has come to be appreciated as an effective development tool, that is facilitating implementation of development projects at community level by the community.
From its introduction in the Zambian landscape 30 years ago, it has evolved to be a key financing framework for bringing development at the door steps of Zambians across the country, especially in rural areas.
Financing for CDF has risen from K1.6 million in 2021 to K25.7 million in 2022, K28.3 million in 2023 and K30.6 million in 2024, with plans already under consideration to increase it in 2025, in order to continued positively changing the development course of urban and rural areas across the country.
However, from inception, access to CDF was difficult for ordinary citizens for whom it is intended, as the CDF guidelines were skewed to support hierarchical control, and perpetuated abuse and pilferage of resources meant to address real development needs of people and their communities.
Following the launch and subsequent implementation of the decentralisation programme, the new devolved system of CDF administration under the United Party for National Development (UPND) administration, people now are able to decide the kind of development they want through Ward Development Committees (WDCs) and Area Development Committees (ADCs), due to the availability of the devolution structure and requisite financing muscle.
Millions of people have started seeing the difference in terms of the impact of CDF projects country-wide.
People across communities in the 156 constituencies are now seeing the physical benefits of the expanded CDF and the impact of the devolution structure that is allowing people participation in the selection of development projects needed in their communities.
Many Zambians to pursue entrepreneurship and own businesses, shops , among others through access to loans and grants obtained from the expanded CDF, making life to never be the same.
Just as the expanded CDF budgetary allocation is empowering many Zambians around the country, Chadiza District in Eastern Province, located about 68 kilometres away from Chipata, the region’s administrative capital, has equally not been left out from the CDF driven development agenda.
The Chadiza Local Authority is administering unprecedented development where for the first time ever, residents have witnessed a total of 28 feasible projects implemented in the last 3 years.
Chadiza District Council Secretary, David Mwansa, is excited with the progress made as the local authority has implemented 28 projects within 3 years using the 2022, 2023 and 2024 CDF allocations.
Mr Mwansa outlines major procurements and construction projects including the procurements of a Grader at K2, 700,000.00, CDF monitoring vehicle at a cost of K1,200,000.00 and a roller compactor valued at K2, 208,400.00 among others.
“We have also procured a CAT Motor Grader pegged at K4,582,500.00 and a Tractor Backhoe Loader (TLB) that cost K1,972,000.00,” Mr Mwansa added.
He explains that on procurement of equipment alone, the local authority has spent at least K9,962,900.00, an amount he said has not been handled by a number of councils in the country in terms of managing projects.
Chadiza, which is only 68 Kilometres from Chipata, takes over 2 hours to be reached by road due to the bad state of the road. The district’s population of over 110,000, according to 2022 census , now wants the government to work on the Chadiza Chipata road, through Msipazi , especially that it is affecting the district’s main economic activity; farming.
It is expected that the procurement of the earth-moving equipment by the Local Authority will be handy in road rehabilitation and maintenance to facilitate the smooth transportation of goods and services especially the agricultural produce.
The Local Authority has also responded to calls by farmers for empowerment programmes through skills development, as well as women and youth’s empowerment through the loans and grants component of the CDF.
Chadiza Council Director Planning, Ansela Mulenga, highlighted that the district has been administering the empowerment funds since 2022 to date, to help change lives of various groupings in the district.
Ms Mulenga revealed that 752 individuals have benefited through skills development, while 404 women and youth groups have been empowered with grants and a further 302 youths and women have also benefited from loans.
She further disclosed that a total K1,963,800.00 was used on loans in 2022 noting that the amount increased to K3, 213,797.00 in 2023.
“On women and youth empowerment, we utilised 30.90 percent translating to K1,953,200 in the 2022 CDF allocation, and in 2023 the empowerment went up to 97%,” She disclosed.
In the last 3 years, the council received 444 applications for community projects and only approved 38 under CDF Bursary Sponsorship, Community projects and Empowerment Awards, part of which was used to repair the blown off roof for the market.
Council Director Engineering, Munaye Samapimbi, stated that overall, in the last 3 years, K45,845,215 of the Constituency Development Fund had been used on Community Projects such as construction of staff houses on schools, classroom blocks, health posts, maternity Annex and rehabilitation of 30 boreholes.
Mr Samapimbi said in responding to the Presidential directive that no child should sit on the floor while learning, the council procured adequate desks and distributed them to schools across the district, to make the dreams of sitting on a desk for most learners in various localities come alive .
He shared that 2,900 desks were procured using the 2022 CDF allocation, whilst with the 2023 allocation, 2,070 desks were additionally procured as well as a total of 3,200 desks have been procured in 2024.
“K4,800,000.00 was used in the procurement of desks under the 2024 CDF allocation and this has helped us in addressing the deficit of desks in schools in Chadiza district,” he stated.
The district administration is also happy to witness massive development projects taking place in Chadiza.
District Commissioner, Malan Zimba, said the CDF was indeed a game changer adding that many people have taken part in various development initiatives which are transforming their quality of life.
Mr Zimba said he wished more could be done under CDF projects especially that the country was facing a drought due to climate change that has left many people with hunger.
The District Commissioner wants CDF to significantly be tilted to issues surrounding agriculture through supporting Smart agriculture practices.
“President Hakainde Hichilema has prioritised agriculture hence coming up with strategies that supports farming using irrigation including emergency wetland farming under Community Development and an allocation of not less than 5 % in CDF to be tilted to irrigation farming,” he explained.
Mr Zimba said he was optimistic that with the increase in CDF allocation annually it will help to reach majority citizens and transform many more lives in the district , and eventually lead to economic stability in and improvement of living standards of people in the district and across the country.
Simon Sakala , a youth who has benefited from the bursary scheme under the CDF thanked government for increasing the CDF allocation to councils country-wide, as it has helped many young people like him, access vocational training .
Mr Sakala is currently studying automotive mechanics at Reformed Church in Zambia.
With the pace at which Chadiza is moving in CDF implementation, it is hoped that more people will benefit from the Fund through improved access to social services and markets which are important avenues for enhancing economic growth. The initiative by the UPND led administration to allow people to determine the trajectory of development in their localities with requisite funding through CDF has been the missing link for addressing development gaps across the country since independence 60 years ago.
