Members of Parliament (MPs) have supported a move to form an ad hoc committee in order to address multiple concerns regarding misuse of Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

On Thursday, a number of lawmakers complained that CDF is being misappropriated in most district councils largely because they are sidelined especially when it comes to procurement.

For instance, Nsanje Lalanje legislator Gladys Ganda said over K100 million meant for CDF cannot be accounted for at Nsanje District Council.

“There is over K100 million missing at Nsanje District Council and that issue we did ask for auditors to audit the books and my predecessor also asked for a forensic audit which has not been done till now, as I speak over K100 million is missing at the Council,” she said.

Ganda added that some funds for CDF have been used as compensation for vendors and other developments that are not in line with CDF.

“I did mention that funds are being as compensation charge to pay compensation for other people, there is an issue in Nsanje whereby vendors are being compensated using part of CDF Funds,” she said.

Reacting to the widespread concerns, Minister of Local Government Lingson Belekanyama said his Ministry has heard the concerns and that they will be looked into swiftly.

“I will call all the District Commissioners to understand and advise them how we sort out this issue, and to deal with this issue we need a collective approach; MPs and the Secretariat otherwise I can agree that since CDF was introduced there has been a lot of mess,” pledged Belekanyama.