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The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflections (JCTR) says it is concerned about the negative effects of political interference in the implementation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in Zambia if left unchecked.
According to a statement issued in Lusaka on Monday, JCTR has noted with concern the seemingly increasing political interference in the CDF processes.
Gibson Chilyobwe, the JCTR’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, and Child Safeguarding Focal Person said the faith based Organisation is also concerned with the involvement of the District Commissioner (DCs) in the implementation of CDF.
Chilyobwe said the CDF guidelines are very clear on all the key stakeholders in the process and what their roles are, however, the involvement of the DCs in the implementation is not clear and not mandated by the guidelines.
He said the District Commissioner is a political appointment and therefore, JCTR is of the view that its involvement is purely for political interests rather than the interests of the community members especially in constituencies where CDF is not performing very well.
“Additionally, the Constituency Development Fund Committee (CDFC) has been compromised from the word go, particularly through the direct nomination of committee members by Members of Parliament (MPs),” Chilyobwe said.
He said out of the minimum of twelve committee members, five are directly nominated by the MP, and additionally, the MP is a member of the same committee and this gives him or her a high level of influence on the CDFC’s decisions.
“In this case, the ability of the committee to adequately represent and advocate for the preferences of local communities can be highly “a just Zambian society guided by faith, where everyone enjoys fullness of life” compromised, and there is a high likelihood of decisions being made to favour political interests at the expense of community needs and priorities,” Chilyobwe said.
He said that JCTR has noted that this political interference has the potential to impede the successful and effective implementation of CDF as well as to undermine the tenets of accountability and transparency.
Chilyobwe said evidence generated through JCTR’s project on CDF accountability project, suggests strongly that political interference is significantly contributing to delays in the completion of various community projects in the constituencies.
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