IT is unfortunate for councillors who are supposed to drive development at the grassroots level have become ‘vultures’ of the CDF.
“Contrary to CDF guidelines number 3 (d), which prohibits payment of allowances from Constituency Development Funds, amounting totalling K238, 154 involving 74 transactions were paid as sitting allowances to councillors and council officers for CDF and Constituency Development Committee meetings,” the 2012 Auditor General’s reports.
The CDF was used for allowances in areas such as Kaputa, where K29, 700 was spent on allowances. From K250, 000 approved for women and youths empowerment projects, as of December K220, 000 funded the clubs had not been accounted for in that there were no records both at the council and at the visited clubs on how they utilised the disbursed Funds.
In Northern Province, K312, 120 was spent on activities such as payment of allowances to councillors, wages to council employees, procurement of spare parts and settlement of utility bills, activities which were not related to CDF
As the adage goes, this is just but the tip of the ice-berg, the manner in which CDF is being misused for personal reasons.
This and other cases cited in the audit report show just how this problem needs rooting out immediately.
Development in most constituencies suffers, while officers charged with the responsibility of ensuring it is spurred, are enriching themselves with the CDF.
If this menacing behaviour continues, the toll on development will continue to costly much to the impoverishment of the electorate.
During the week, an email from John Sakonda from Solwezi was sent sharing concern over the manner councillors have been identified as the culprits in the misuse of CDF.
Mr Sakonda appealed to law enforcement wings to thoroughly investigate such happenings by councillors and allow for justice to prevail.
He said it the CDF was not meant to pay allowances to individuals nor was it meant to be directed for any other purpose than what it was designed for, projects.
“I have been following your articles, and when I read through the Auditor General’s report for 2012, I was and still dismayed that councillors, are taking advantage of the Funds to pay themselves hefty allowances,” he said.
He warned that the trend, if left to prevail as it is, then the whole CDF needs to be suspended because it was serving the intended purpose or such councils should be suspended.
Martin Kalenjo wrote in from Kabwe, echoing his displeasure that councillors were abusing public funds with impunity.
Mr Kalenjo also called on investigating authorities especially the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to probe the cases cited in the AG Anna Chifungula’s findings.
“It is unbelievable that such a trend has to continue, the previous reports have also indicated similar trend of abuse by councillors and it is a shame that this time around, the rate of abuse has continued,” he said.
Jane Mwendapole of Kalomo said the CDF is meant for development and not for allowances.
“How do we develop, if Funds released for development are being used to pay allowances and salaries? Where are going as a country?” Ms Mwendapole said.
Her questions linger in many people’s minds. The course of development is a responsibility of all, hence the call to those charged with the responsibility to spearhead development and ensure it is implemented, should not be taken lightly.
Much as we commend the Auditor General’s office for highlighting these anomalies, the relevant investigative wings should ensure such vices become history and culprits brought to book.
Roads, education, health facilities especially in the rural areas, suffer dilapidation and the CDF is supposed to tackle such developments but it does not see the purpose it is designed to serve as it only ends in the pockets of a privileged few councillors, while those deserving it wonder and question whether those voted into office, know their problems.
In relation, the observation by the Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) is spot-on.
The president of ZUFIAW, Ackim Mweemba, as briefly highlighted last week, observed that, “if left unchecked, the lack of action against erring officers in the use of public funds, this includes CDF, will
lead to people losing confidence in the government’s commitment towards fighting corruption”.
Mr Mweemba said the Auditor General’s reports should not be a mere academic exercise but rather a process of identifying mistakes and correcting them in order to achieve prudent management of public resources.
Adequate funding had been spent to build capacity in the Auditor General’s office and the office led by Ms Chifungula has shown signs of efficiency in its reporting.
“Every year, the Auditor General’s office unearths so many irregularities in the way public funds and other resources are misapplied and misappropriated, but still nothing is happening to curb this misappropriation,” he added.
The concerns and calls for arrest and prosecution of those named in the reports are genuine but it should be realised that the information regarding the arrests directly linked to the CDF are not readily available or such is not privy to members of the public but the ACC is doing its part in this area.
Mr Mweemba said partners in development or members of the public were particularly worried with the silence by investigating agencies, on what action is taken on the massive misappropriation of public funds.
“In order to develop our country and improve the lives of our citizens, there is need to intensify efforts in the practice of strict accountability, efficiency and combat retrogressive vices such as corruption, abuse, thefts, misapplication, misappropriation and all sorts of misuse of public resources,” he said.
It is, therefore, incumbent of the law enforcement to deal with these matters and provide a platform to members of the public who are the tax payers and they have the right to know, what is being done to address these loopholes hindering developmental progress, by making public arrests relating to offences highlighted in the annual audit reports.
The revelations in the audit reports need to scale down and subsequently they have to stop. Come the next audit, a microscopic inspection on how many councillors and councils used CDF for other purposes, would surely follow and if it is detected again that the reports of misuse are still escalating, then we have a problem as a country.
Keep sending your concerns to namusak@gmail.com.