⬆️ EDITORIAL | Beyond Complaints: Making CDF Work
Every budget cycle, the Constituency Development Fund becomes a punching bag. This year is no different. Opposition leaders argue that the K40 million allocated to each constituency is too little to make any meaningful change. They cite examples such as Chongwe, which has 21 wards. Once operational costs are deducted, only about K24 million remains for infrastructure. That translates to roughly K1.1 million per ward. The argument is simple: the money is too thinly spread to matter.
But the truth is more complex. Resources will never be enough to satisfy every ward, every year. The test is not the size of the allocation, but the quality of planning. If constituencies approach CDF like free cash for ad-hoc projects, they will always fall short. If they treat it as guaranteed annual revenue for strategic development, the results can be transformative.
Each constituency has civic leaders, ward councillors, and development committees. They must sit down, tabulate needs, and agree on priorities. Not every school, clinic, or borehole can be built in a single year. But over five years, with discipline and planning, they can. That requires more than political noise. It demands constituency-level development plans tied to realistic budgets and timelines.
The frustration is not about the amount. It is about wastage. Auditor-General reports already show how millions of CDF funds are left unspent or misapplied. Politicians cry that allocations are small, yet fail to use the full amount that is guaranteed each year. This is not a money problem. It is a leadership problem.
Imagine if every constituency published a five-year CDF plan, showing which wards get priority and when. Imagine if communities could track projects year by year, knowing that their borehole may not come this year, but it is guaranteed in year three. That is how confidence is built. That is how development becomes visible.
CDF was never meant to solve everything at once. It was meant to give citizens direct control of development priorities. Politicians prefer to complain about “limitations” rather than do the hard work of planning. That mindset cheats voters out of the real value of this fund.
For the public, the demand must shift. Do not just ask your MP for “more money.” Ask them for a plan. Ask them whether last year’s CDF was fully utilised. Ask them what the five-year roadmap looks like. Money will always be scarce. But planning, transparency, and discipline are free.
Should constituencies publish five-year CDF plans? Write to us at editor.peoplesbrief@gmail.com
© The People’s Brief | Editorial