Government has directed all district councils in Luapula Province to use part of the Constituency Development Funds (CDF) to work on the road network in their respective districts.
Luapula Province Permanent Secretary Jazzman Chikwakwa issued the directive during the Provincial Development Coordinating Committee (PDCC) meeting in Mansa today.
Mr. Chikwakwa said the township roads in the districts were in a deplorable state adding that it was the responsibility of councils to maintain the roads.
He said his office will support the councils intending to work on the roads with the road equipment from the Rural Road Unit (RRU) which is under his office.
The Permanent Secretary said government would not accept excuses from local authorities’ failure to maintain roads within their districts because it had procured and made the road equipment available under the RRU department.
And Mr. Chikwakwa has said that government was still considering tarring the pedicle road to ease transportation via the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) route.
He said that the works to tar the road would have commenced this year but there was no budget allocation to the project adding that the Road was key on the national Roads Calendar.
Once tarred the 84 kilometer stretch would provide a shorter route via the DRC linking Luapula and Copperbelt Provinces.
ZANIS
If today it is when Councils are being directed to use CDF for roads, can someone enlighten me on what the CDF has been used in the past? One would think Councils are already using part of the CDF on roads. And who decides on what the CDF should be used for, is it central govt, the constitueny, just who?
Well, being the Ngoni that I am, I smell a well cooked rat. For audit purposes, diverting CDFs from their intended activity will not qualify as misapplication of funds once this instruction is followed.
So, when somebody later diverts other funds from councils into the pocket or some funny party activity, a precedence would been set to support the diversion, wouldn’t it? Ninshi twalya ifwe, tefyo??