CDF COULD BE AN ECONOMIC GAME-CHANGER, SAYS ZEHEST

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

CITIZENS, especially in rural parts of the country, should be made to understand Constituency Development Funds (CDF) if they are to fully benefit by fully participating in the economic transformation of this country, the Zambian Empowerment Hub for Entrepreneurship and Skills Training (ZEHEST) has said.

Speaking to The Scoop ZEHEST, Executive Director Clarence Muzyamba said more needed to be done by the Government to consider translating CDF guidelines into the local languages for easy understanding.

He observed that people in rural parts of the country were discouraged from applying despite interest due to the restricted use of English.

“People may be willing to participate in CDF empowerment programs but are still not confident because the guidelines are in English. Citizens in rural areas especially where illiteracy levels are higher need more engagement on CDF with the view to enable more citizens to contribute to economic growth,” Mr. Muzyamba said.

He said that CDF implementation was well intended but may not serve the purpose and contribute to national development if fewer citizens were not benefiting.

He said there was a need for a common man on the streets to understand the guidelines and requirements of accessing CDF in a bid to ensure that implementation was effectively contributing to economic development.

The increase of the CDF from K1.4 million in 2021 to K25.7 million in the 2022 Budget and now K28.3 million in 2023 demonstrates that the path towards the goal of a complete socio-economic transformation agenda of broad-based citizen participation is surely being achieved.

The World bank under the Zambia Devolution Support Project will fund the Zambian Government as the country targets to double the CDF allocation from the current K28 million (about $1.5 million) per annum to about K56 million (about $3 million) per annum from 2024.