The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Gift Sialubalo, MP, has called for the immediate realignment of the Kasama Municipal Council following a monitoring tour of various Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects in Kasama Central Constituency.
During the visit, Hon. Sialubalo expressed grave concern over the substandard quality and questionable pricing of some projects being implemented under the CDF. He stated that the state of some projects did not reflect value for money, despite government’s substantial investment in decentralised development.
“I am extremely disappointed with the quality of some of the projects being implemented under the CDF in Kasama. It is clear that there are serious lapses in supervision and accountability. Some projects are not only overpriced but have also been poorly executed. This is a disservice to the people of Kasama,” Hon. Sialubalo said.
He stressed that government has made decentralisation a cornerstone of its development agenda by increasing allocations to the CDF in order to empower communities, address local needs, and improve service delivery at the grassroots level.
“The people of Kasama deserve better. Public funds must be used responsibly and must bring about tangible improvements in people’s lives. We cannot afford to allow inefficiencies or mismanagement to undermine this important programme,” he said.
The Minister directed that the performance of the Kasama Municipal Council be reviewed as a matter of urgency, and that corrective measures be instituted to ensure the proper management and execution of CDF projects moving forward. He added that officers responsible for overseeing these projects will be held accountable in accordance with established government procedures.
Hon. Sialubalo also urged local stakeholders including Ward Development Committees, councillors, and the general public to actively participate in monitoring projects and reporting irregularities, stating that community involvement is critical to ensuring transparency and achieving meaningful development outcomes.
Issued by:
Liseli Kanyanga (Ms)
Principal Public Relations Officer
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
CDF, if effectively implemented, could be a game changer. But not all is going transparently and hopefully the new broom is up to the task to put the CDF house in order.
He appears serious with his work than the previous guy. That said he needs to advise his colleagues and his leader to avoid self praise, as this is just alienating UPND from the people. I encourage him to emphasise to his colleagues than much as Free education is important it is not the first priority in Zambia today. People have to eat first. Bring the cost of living down
We need free education, CDF funded school leavers, those who didn’t attend school. It’s been clear for a long time now that we lack good workmanship. This can only be addressed through education. Let’s have a standard system for general laborers. Teach them how to use tools the right way, how to use tape measure, basic techniques in building and mathematics, English or even have these courses in local languages. We can do this. It’s the laborers who build things. Those council workers are knowledgeable but decide to close their eyes and pocket kickbacks from shoddy contractors. Fire them, convict them also and put them in jail.
Kasama Municipal Council under mayor Mathilda Kolala is not interested in spending CDF money properly because they do not want to be seen to be advancing the UPND agenda in an indirect way. That’s all there’s to it. It’s a pity that Minister Syalubalo is not talking about what should be done to the culprits.