Speaker to ask Ministry to expedite release of CDF money
SPEAKER of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda will engage the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to expedite the disbursement of Constituency Development Funds (CDFs) to constituencies whose projects were approved.
Advocate Mudenda assured Parliamentarians that he would push for the disbursement of the funds, after concerns were raised that legislators have been waiting for the funds since December last year.
“I’ll follow up on this matter and ensure that the funds are deposited into the bank accounts of those whose projects were approved.
“When the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube returns from his trip, I will engage him on this matter. Meanwhile, I’ll instruct the Clerk of Parliament to write to the Permanent Secretary of Finance to make sure the money is availed and disbursed accordingly,” said Advocate Mudenda.
Earlier, Kwekwe Central MP Masango Matambanadzo appealed to Advocate Mudenda to look into the issue, saying MPs had a lot of projects to work on in their constituencies.
“I rise to seek clarity on the CDFs that we were supposed to have received at the time when Parliament went on recess in December last year. Maybe I missed something because we have not as yet received that money. When we came back for this particular sitting, we were told that the funds were available and applications should be submitted timeously.
“We submitted our papers and every time we check in the bank to see if any deposit has been made, there is nothing. The explanation we got is that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development took back the CDFs that had been allocated to Parliament,” said MP Matambanadzo.
He added that it was important for Parliament to update Parliamentarians concerning the issue so that they also update their constituents.
“I have not lied to people in my constituency before and I should not start doing so now. I’m personally dismayed by the delay and now I’m playing hide and seek as people look for me wanting to make inquiries about the CDFs.
“The quotations that we were given by different suppliers have since doubled in price as our local currency has devalued,” said MP Matambanadzo.
About 40 percent of returning Members of Parliament failed to account for the previous disbursement of $50 000 and Parliament warned the defaulting legislators that they would not be able to access another round of CDF if they did not account for the money.
Parliament crafted tough conditions and guidelines aimed at safeguarding the utilisation of CDF after reports of rampant abuse of the funds had been unearthed by audit in previous years.
Some of the conditions included submission of minutes of an inaugural meeting of the CDF committee on how the money would be used.
MPs should also submit names of members of CDF committees in compliance with the constitution of the fund. Application for the fund should be accompanied by curriculum vitaes of committee members of the CDF and an independent bank account with names of signatories.
The guidelines include the nature of development projects that could be funded and the involvement of the administration of Parliament.
Parliament adopted tough guidelines on the use of CDF as part of measures to enhance accountability and curb abuse by the legislators.
Government introduced the CDF to enable legislators to spearhead community development projects in their constituencies.
Parliament set up a management committee to administer the fund constituted by Deputy Clerk of Parliament, principal finance director of Parliament, director of research and counsel to Parliament.
Their duty is to manage the transaction of the fund from the ministry to the account of the constituency. — @pamelashumba1