UPND govt broke, CDF projects stalled – Kapyanga
By George Zulu and Charles Musonda
THE United Party for National Development government is broke and that is why it is failing to fund projects under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Mpika member of Parliament Francis Kapyanga has said.
In an interview with The Mast yesterday, Kapyanga said the government had failed to release over K1.8 billion to all the 156 constituencies in 2024.
“This government is broke, it has no money and that is why it has failed to release K12 million to each constituency from the 2024 CDF funding. All the 156 constituencies are still owed K12 million from the 2024 allocation,” Kapyanga said.
He said the K12 million shortfall in the 2024 CDF budget had affected the implementation of projects for 2025 and 2026.
“The CDF is a hot issue; it is just that media houses don’t pay attention. In 2024 government issued a circular directing councils to use available money in the bank accounts for any project within the confines of CDF. In the past, money for a particular year was specifically meant for projects for that year. This government is just broke; it has no money to fund projects,” he said.
Kapyanga said the K12 million was supposed to be released in 2024 to each council across the country for every constituency.
He said to date, the government, through the Ministry of Finance and National Planning had failed to make the funds available, delaying projects in several constituencies.
“And this is how arrogant our colleagues in government are, they cannot even explain to the people of Zambia what has led to the failure. All they will tell you when you ask about the funding is that it is not a matter of urgency,” he said.
Kapyanga said the 2024 circular was clear and instructive to councils to use available funds to finance the completion of other CDF projects going forward.
“That circular allowed money for 2024 to be used for 2023 projects, you could use money for 2024 for 2025 projects, up to now we have not received K12 million, councils were using the 2025 allocation to complete projects for 2024, thinking the K12 million would be disbursed.
“So, implementation of 2025 and 2026 projects will be affected; the funding gap of K12 million is the one that has affected projects for 2025 and 2026 in all councils,” he said.
Efforts to get Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Gift Sialubalo and the ministry’s Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Nicholas Phiri proved futile as their phones went unanswered.
In a separate interview, Feira member of Parliament Emmanuel Tembo said CDF was being disbursed in instalments.
“This money is released in instalments; it is not automatic and it usually delays, as it did last year, it was delayed up to the last quarter. I am not sure if we received everything for 2025. This CDF is a scam, it is for political mileage,” Tembo said.
