As Malawians anxiously wait for the tabling of the 2024/25 fiscal budget, members of Parliament (MPs) want the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) doubled from the current K100 million.

Our sources, however, indicate that it will be raised to K150 million, meaning that government will spend at least K28.95 billion per year up from K19.3 billion. Doubling it means an annual allocation of K38.6 billion.

In an interview, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) MP for Mwanza West Joyce Chitsulo said at K100 million, CDF has helped MPs to construct and rehabilitate bridges, school blocks and clinics, among others.

However, she said last year’s devaluation of the kwacha has led to an increase in prices of materials, which justifies the call to have the CDF doubled.

 “If CDF is increased, it will really help MPs deal with challenges in very remote areas like on bridges, health posts and schools. Each MP wants to be seen to work and the easier way for that is [through] the CDF.

Chitsulo: Prices of goods have gone up

“We have a District Development Fund [DDF], but this is confined to people at the council secretariat. If you speak or ask anything on DDF, they think you are against them, but CDF is easy for us even on tracking,” she said.

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) MP for Salima North West Enock Phale said CDF is a stand out funding windows.

 “We used to have a vibrant DDF, but these days you hardly see councils discussing and sharing DDF resources because funding is hard to come by. Gesd [Governance to Enable Service Delivery] is also one that is helping.

“Since CDF is the one now helping a lot, why can’t we have it doubled?” he wondered.

United Democratic Front (UDF) president Lilian Patel said Cyclone Freddy destroyed many bridges and blew off roofs of many schools which require rehabilitation.

Said Patel: “Government takes too long to come in with help while people are suffering! So, we are using CDF for that, it is there to help people, and that is why it should be doubled.”

Patrick Bandawe of Dedza East (MCP) and Davie Ng’ambi (Independent) of Chitipa Wenya also said CDF has changed the landscape of many constituencies, but needs to be increased in the wake of  last year’s devaluation.

On his part,Victor Musowa of Mulanje Bale [DPP] said CDF needs to be re-aligned with the dollar.

He suggested: “CDF should be cushioned the same way the national budget is cushioned during any devaluation. CDF is a resource based budget, so why can’t we attach it to devaluation?”  

But in a separate interview, Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) executive director Hadrod Mkandawire said CDF undermines decentralisation.

“We need to collapse all funding windows at the local level into one basket like DDF to support implementation of district development plans and urban development plans.

“The challenge is that MPs view it with a political lens. But the Water Infrastructure Fund implementation model of Rumphi District should motivate them,” he said.

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) national coordinator Boniface Chibwana said CDF has been prone to abuse as several audit reports highlighted weak accountability and management tools.

“CDF has overtaken all the funding modalities at the council. Does it mean that we have failed on other funding modalities or due to selfishness by MPs? We need to review that.

“On CDF, let us have thorough audits and those reports have to be made public to see if we have made substantial improvements,” he said.

In his State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Lazarus Chakwera touted increased development projects due to the CDF, saying, “I for one would like to build on it to keep our recovery going.”

From an allocation of K1 million in 2006, the fund was raised to K3 million in 2013, K10.5 million in 2016, K19.5 million in 2018 to K30 million in 2019, K40 million in 2020 and K100 million in 2022/23 financial year.

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