UPND’s mishandling of CDF gives PF chance to bounce back in 2026 – Monde
By Walusungu Lundu
GREYFORD Monde has trashed the highly talked about UPND’s Constituency Development Fund (CDF) programme.
Featuring on United Voice Radio, the PF presidential hopeful charged that the UPND government is using CDF to hoodwink citizens.
He said President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration can increase CDF to K200 million per constituency knowing that they “will not be able to implement it”.
Monde said the money under CDF is just there to help constituencies in times when the money in the national budget is not enough.
“You know what has happened to CDF? This is hoodwinking the Zambians. That CDF has now become funding for the Ministry of Home Affairs. That CDF has become funding for Ministry of Community Development, Ministry of Health; all the government sectors. Anything you want in your constituency today, CDF. A bridge is falling, CDF,” he said. “Because you know that a national budget is planned from a constituency. In a constituency, you have got 50 schools. You know that this school needs renovation. So what do you do? Put it in the budget…you will hear that in the Ministry of Education we have 1,000 schools to rehabilitate. It is not by guessing. Those schools have been registered by the constituencies. Now in this government, all of that is under CDF. Is it good management or bad management? It is bad management. As PF, we would cover all this in budget. By the end of the year, you go into the constituency and ask them how much in real terms have you received from government? You will find that they have received even K200 million through fixing bridges, paying social cash transfer, renovating clinics…”
Monde said there is a problem even if the government increases CDF to K100 million if that is the only money being taken to constituencies.
“Ask yourself a question, what major developments have you seen in constituencies? Have you seen roads being done, have you seen bridges? So at the end of the day when you sit down and calculate you realise no, we are actually being hoodwinked. If they want to increase the CDF, let them also increase the amount of money they are going to take to these constituencies. It can’t be CDF only,” he said. “Constituencies are very big. So when you are going to rate them after five years you will realise that even if they increase CDF to K100 million, if that is the only money going into the constituencies, then there is a problem. Go and check the state of schools – if schools are running well right now. So for me it’s a mess and very soon Zambians will realise. Now ask yourself a question, CDF for 2022, when was it delivered? It was delivered this year. So when do you think they will implement that CDF? They were announcing just in January that we have now finished 100 per cent taking CDF for 2022. So now what is supposed to happen they must now begin to implement by spending that money. So the whole lot of last year, they did not even spend it. This year, that is when they will start spending that CDF for 2022. They will finish spending it in 2023. So when are they going to receive the CDF for 2023, the one that is K28 million? So if you are working with a person who thinks Zambians are not seeing what is happening, this is what you experience.”
Monde said the UPND’s mishandling of the CDF gives PF a chance to bounce back in 2026.
“So for me, Zambians are seeing and they are watching. At the end of the day they will say ‘ah they (PF) built these clinics in five years in our constituency. These (UPND) have not even rehabilitated any, they haven’t worked on the roads. This is for PF, that is for PF, they need to come back to power’. That is how we are going to come back,” said Monde.