LETTER TO PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA ON CDF ALLOCATION.
Dear Mr President,
May I firstly congratulate you, Your Excellency for embarking on a brave and ambitious journey of taking development to the furthest and most neglected places by past governments in our country using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Before January 2022, CDF allocation per constituency was at a meagre K1.6 million, which was not even consistently disbursed. But today, our people in each constituency are receiving an allocation of K28.3 million per year, without having to return what was left of the allocation in the previous year, something that never happened before the UPND formed Government.
Mr President sir, only 2 or 3 provinces across the country can boast of having urban districts, while the rest of the other provincial capitals can only be loosely described as peri-urban districts, and other districts described as rural areas.
In light this, I feel the equal allocation of CDF per constituency should be relooked so that we can have an equitable distribution of CDF per Constituency as per needs.
Urban Constituencies, particularly those in Lusaka, Livingstone, Ndola, Kitwe, Chipata and Choma are benefiting more from the national resources than the rural constituencies as urban constituencies also benefit largely from the Central Governments development agenda through construction of schools, roads, hospitals and clinics.
Lusaka district alone has more than four mini hospitals and 2 University Teaching Hospitals. Beyond this, Lusaka also has clinics across all compounds which are built using Central Government financing.
Further, Lusaka district alone has so many schools including public colleges and universities. The same scenario applies to other urban districts like Ndola, Choma, Kitwe and others but only remains a dream and a prayer for those in the rural areas.
Districts like Lunte in Northern Province, Shangombo in Western Province, Lumezi in Eastern Province and many others, only have about one clinic or three utmost. This means most of the people in these rural constituencies have to cover even up to 20kms to access what can only be termed as basic medical attention. In the spirit of equity distribution of national resources, is it not just right that these areas with more basic needs receive more from the national coffers?
It is therefore my suggestion Mr President, that you consider relooking the allocation of CDF from an equal to all or for all point of view to an equitable point of view. This will in turn help the people in rural constituencies have access to a decent life, where access to education, good health clean water, good and decent housing, communication, and good road network is eased.
This will also give a comparative advantage in terms of development to the rural constituencies if they are to be given a bigger chunk of the CDF compared to those in Lusaka and other urban areas which already have their fair share of the nation’s resources.
Sir, in order for these rural places to see rapid infrastructure development, be it in education, health housing, and access to clean water, there is need to apply CDF allocation in an equitable fashion.
Kabwata, Munali or any other constituency in urban areas should no longer receive the same allocation as Sioma, Chikankata or Luano districts. This is because the people have different needs and demands and those in rural areas have more demands and needs than those in urban areas.
For example, the people of Matero may not need CDF money to construct schools, while the people of Nega-Nega will need this money to build a school from scratch and houses for the teachers. Urban areas may only require funding to buy desks. The people in Lusaka may not need CDF to build a clinic because there are already plenty. But the people in Vubwi or Chasefu need these resources to construct clinics and even staff houses for nurses and clinical officers.
As I conclude, may I make an appeal to you sir, to consider relooking the CDF allocation policy in 2024 by reducing financing to constituencies that are already directly benefitting from Central Government and give to rural constituencies in order for people that may not yet see economic benefits from your Government to see the impact of your hard work in their lives.
I thank you and may God bless you.
Yours in service.
Edmond Mbanga Miti Jr.