National Democratic Congress secretary-general Charles Kabwita has said that the government should engage the Church and non-governmental organisations to facilitate the awarding of secondary school bursaries under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for transparence’s sake to prevent the process from being politicised.
Mr Kabwita said that in as much as the process for applying for the bursaries would be starting from the ward level at the constituency if it was left to be run by politicians it was likely to be politicised.
He said it was important that Government take strict measures so that members of the ruling party do not take advantage of the process and disadvantage the vulnerable people.
Mr Kabwita said that the measures should be put up as quickly as possible so that there was no repeat of what was happening to the CDF in the previous regime where only members of the ruling party could access it.
He said that as the guidelines on the utilisation of the CDF were out it was important that the government trains stakeholders in various constituencies on how to tender and subsequently award contracts.
Mr Kabwita said it was a very sensitive matter which needed serious monitoring, education and sensitisation.
He said that if this undertaking was left to members of parliament only whole process would be marred with serious corruption because those are politicians and they owe favours to their supporters.
Mr Kabwita said the government should make sure that all loopholes were sealed so that the CDF money serves its intended purpose.
NO. This is NOT a church job. Pastors should remain in their churches and NOT get involved with government actions. BAD IDEA
Sorry to say this… I am afraid churches today are not like yesterday’s churches. The same corruption you see in government offices is also prevalent in churches….. NGOs too.
Most NGO’s in Zambia are involved in the uplifting of the welfare of the marginalized, the poor and the vulnerable. Involving such organizations would easily help to identify the vulnerable and those who genuinely need help. Again, in as much as the Church can be corrupt or whatever you call it, they can not be as ‘wicked’ or corrupt as the Politicians or corruption in Politics. The Church is Politically neutral. Just as most, i mean most NGO’s are Politically neutral. So for me, i think I agree with this statement. The Church helps a lot in the issues of street kids, the disable and other marginalized groups, youth, women e.t.c. So are some NGO’s.
Why are the bursaries not given on merit? Why involve the church or NGOs who have lost sight of their goals of uplifting those in need?