Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development permanent secretary has disclosed that all the councils across the country have already constituted Constituency Development fund (CDF) Committees, which are ready to administer the funds once they are released by government.
In an interview with Lusaka Star, Mambo Hamuundu said the ministry is also pleased that almost all the councils have complied with the revised Constituency Development Fund Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
We are glad to say that we have 90% to 100% compliance towards the CDF guidelines from councils and that the councils that have not yet submitted, the ministry is working hand in hand with the councils for them to be at 100% compliance,
Mambo said.
He said that Constituency Development Fund is public money which must be used for public good, hence, the need for his Ministry to ensure that they closely work with the councils before the money is disbursed.
Mambo said that once the CDF is disbursed to the councils, government expects the local authorities to use the money for specific tasks and in a prescribed manner.
Any council which will not utilise the resources as per expectation will have to give good reasons as to why they did not do what the people through the CDF had demanded them to do,
Mambo said.
The row of the councils will be to comply with the directives coming from the people in the community as well as the CDF guidelines.
The permanent secretary said any council which will not utilize the Constituency Development Fund for the intended purpose will face the law.