Africa-Press – Zambia. The Zambia NGO WASH Forum has urged Parliament to consider decentralization of powers by the Attorney General as centralization is a bottleneck in the implementation of Constituency Development Fund-CDF projects.
The Forum’s Representative, Chama Mundia, said this when the NGO WASH Forum presented a Memorandum to the National Assembly of Zambia, Committee on Local Governance, Housing and Chiefs Affairs, and Committee on Local Government Accounts on “Ramifications of the Constituency Development Fund (Amendment) Bill, N.A.B No.21 of 2023”.
Speaking on behalf of the Forum, Mundia noted that at the close of 2022,the approval of CDF projects was delegated to the Provincial Local Government Officer following the huge responsibility that CDF implementation placed on the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.
She said the Central Ministry control over project approvals has been a key bottle neck, adding that devolving to the province makes the process much quicker.
Mundia said the establishment of the Provincial Constituency Development Committee is problematic as it creates an extra layer of bureaucracy in the approval of the CDF.
She added that leaving the composition of the PCDFC to the Minister may be subject to political interference and bias in the selection of projects if diverse voices are not factored in the composition of the Committee.
The Forum’s Representative suggested that it would be prudent to note how the process will work in practice noting timeliness of approvals, emerging challenges and how they are being addressed.
Mundia further observed that another key bottleneck relating to the CDF has been the approval of contracts under the Ministry of Justice because it remains centralised.
She noted that while the Secretary to the Treasury has delegated authority to provinces, the Attorney General still retains the authority to sign contracts for the over 150 constituencies. This media statement was issued by NGO WASH Forum National Coordinator Bubala Muyovwe Mumba.
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