UPND CDF Projects Monitoring- Necessary Undertaking
By Dr. Martin Mushumba
The United Party for National Development (UPND) Secretary General (SG) Hon Batuke Imenda is widely known for being a shrewd, calm, collected, knowledgeable and mature Statesman who loves doing his works in the background. He is hugely adored in the UPND for being the first Secretary General to lead the party into forming government. Simply put, the UPND has a mature Statesman for its Secretary General.
In the last month or so, Hon. Imenda has embarked on a robust agenda to monitor Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects across the country. Given the manner in which His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema has reformed CDF to serve as a strategic development initiative, effective monitoring of CDF projects by the government, the community and all interested stakeholders remains very crucial.
Suffice to note that Hon. Imenda has been monitoring the implementation of CDF projects to provide citizens with the information that they need about their CDF and the ongoing government community development programmes. In this regard, he has demanded to know how government officials in various districts have overseen the utilisation of CDF.
The Secretary General has been committed in ensuring that communities make the best possible use of CDF. With the UPND government being up to date with CDF disbursements, Hon. Imenda holds that there was no justification for some constituencies to lag behind.
He has as such continued to ensure that all the constituencies, regardless of the political affiliation of the area Member of Parliament benefitted from CDF. Hon. Imenda has looked beyond politics by putting the welfare of the people first. He has managed to align the party’s manifesto with the government programmes by ensuring that the government implemented the party manifesto for the benefit of the people.
Therefore, to the general public, Hon. Imenda is that servant leader who has assumed the role of protecting the money meant to improve their lives and their communities. To the UPND, he is a leader advancing the party’s development agenda and protecting the UPND manifesto by ensuring that important aspects such as CDF were serving their purpose.
To everyone interested in good governance, Hon. Imenda has distinguished himself as being a passionate development activist concerned with the welfare of the people by ensuring that resources meant for the community were utilised for the intended purposes. He has demonstrated passion for grassroots development in ensuring that those leaders entrusted with the responsibility of managing CDF remained accountable to the people.
It is this kind of work that dignifies Hon. Imenda and amplifies the respect that is attached to his name. Even those in opposition admire his exemplary leadership. The manner in which he has remodelled the role of a party secretary general has been a subject of interest in the political circles. Hon. Imenda has professionalised the role of a party secretary general, and thus setting the bar so high.
Evidently, Hon. Imenda has distinguished himself as a leader who stands for politics of integrity, peace and order. His hand in ending cadreism is evident in the manner he has always challenged the UPND youths to engage themselves in productive activities and not to abuse the privilege of belonging to the ruling party.
Despite some critics challenging his role in monitoring CDF projects, he has ably managed to connect the role of the ruling party in ensuring that its manifesto was effectively implemented by government. From the CDF monitoring results, Hon. Imenda is enthusiastic and buoyed by the rising contribution of CDF to national development.
The author is a Public Policy Analyst
