Feira Constituency Independent Member of Parliament in Luangwa District Stephen Miti has ordered Luangwa Town Council to immediately stop using Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to pay for school fees for 100 vulnerable students pursuing diploma and degree courses in different tertiary institutions.
Mr. Miti has also directed the council not to settle the K 506,000.00 debt that the council owes the tertiary institutions as arrears for school fees since 2015 to date.
The Member of Parliament disclosed to ZANIS in Lunagwa recently that he has ordered the local authority to immediately stop using CDF to pay for school fees for the 100 vulnerable students because the move is against CDF guidelines.
The MP has since stopped the payments as he is alleging that some of the students are from rich families while others are ghost students who do not exist in the learning institutions indicated on the beneficiary list.
Mr. Miti said CDF is supposed to be spent prudently on programmes and projects that benefit communities as a whole and not on programmes that only benefit individuals such as payment of school fees.
Meanwhile, Chairperson for the Pastors’ Ministers Fellowship Davies Mavunga has appealed to government to intervene in the matter, saying most of the students are in examination classes and might not be allowed to sit for their final examinations if the arrears owed to the learning institutions are not settled.
Reverend Mavunga said although the council has erred by going against the CDF guidelines, the plight of these vulnerable students must be considered with sympathy.
No….Let the money go to its intended purpose.
Let the children benefit from CDF, they are the only hope for the future.They are the ones who can bring real development to Feira.
That MP Steven Miti is scared and is full of envy of the young lads.
He just wants to enrich himself further with the CDF funds. His plans wont work as the devil is a liar!!!!
No one complained when he received free education under the UNIP government so he better keep quiet
I agree with the MP. CDF is for capital/developmental projects especially infrastructure e.g. additional classrooms, maternity block, dip tanks, dams etc. School fees for vulnerable children are a responsibility of social welfare (wolofela). Now, if he council made a commitment to support these children through out the secondary/tertiary cycle, then the council should either transfer this responsibility to wolofela or find other means of fulfilling this commitment.
As usual – it appears the Zambian practice is to pounce on anything and everything that spells money. What a waste. I agree – let monies for vulnerable children be driven locally by local volunteers who have some spare to give in conjunction with parents and guardians and the ministry of social security (or welfare) if ever that even exists in the country. This idea that any tap that opens must find its way into undeserving cups is just hopelessly ridiculous.
I am sure if you go to check you…you will simply see that they are simply ghosts
GOOD PURPOSE,BUT KNOWING THE COUNCILS,THEY HAVE ISSUES WITH ACCOUNTABILITY,SO LET IT STOP.
On this the MP is 100% correct. DVD funds are meant for development in the respective constituencies and not for paying school fees or any other payments for that matter. Next they will be using that to pay sitting allowances.