Patriotic Front Councillors in Kasama yesterday boycotted a meeting called by Kasama Central Member of Parliament Xavier Chishimba to discuss the disbursement of K260 million Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for 2006 and 2007 respectively.
The councillors, who included Kasama Mayor, Sebastian Chipope, maintained that they do not recognize Dr. Chishimba as MP because he was an expelled party member.
They said they had nothing to discuss with the embattled MP whom they accused of frustrating developmental programmes in the district.
The councillors said they would continue to uphold their party’s directive not to entertain Dr. Chishimba’s manoeuvres to win back support from PF members after his expulsion from the party.
But Dr. Chishimba dismissed his purported expulsion from the PF and vowed to continue executing his duties as Kasama Central Member of Parliament.
The MP described the councillors’ actions to shun his proposed meeting on the disbursement of CDF as retrogressive, and warned that they risked becoming irrelevant to the development of his constituency if they do not change their attitudes.
Dr Chishimba also accused the councillors of having vested interests in the allocations of resources to beneficiaries in his constituency, saying the clubs earmarked to benefit from the CDF were just formed a few weeks before the funds were aportined.
He further said he would go ahead and constitute a new committee to oversee the disbursement of the K260 million CDF which was lying idle in commercial banks in order to spearhead development in his constituency.