The Centre for Social Concern (CFSC) has asked government to put in place proper mechanisms that will empower the rural communities to have a control over Constituency Development Fund (CDF) before agreeing to increase the allocation as requested by the Members of Parliament (MPs).

This follows a report which was presented by the parliamentary committee which oversees CDF which requested for the increase of CDF allocation from the K40 million to K100 million.

According to the parliamentarians, the current K40 million is too little as compared to challenges existing in the constituencies.

But commenting on the development, CFSC Programs Coordinator, Benard Mphepo, said if the authorities will not change the way CDF is currently being handled then increasing the funds can just be a waste of resources.

Mphepo said: “Our comment is that indeed we need more money to develop our constituencies but looking at how members of parliament are administering these funds then our proposal could be that government should put in place proper mechanisms to empower the rural communities to have a control over these funds.”

He said currently a lot of money is being wasted because MPs are in total control of the funds.

He further highlighted that CFSC is not against the increase but rather the management.

CFSC is an arm of the Catholic Church and is running a project called “Strengthening the Capacity of Citizens to Demand Transparency and Accountability in Public Finance Management for Reduced Poverty and Inequality” which has also been empowering the communities to follow up the management of CDF in their respective constituencies.