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—The Chipata District Farmers Association (CDFA) has observed that most of the Constituency Development Fund projects implemented in the district were not monitored by the District Planning Subcommittee and council engineers.
According to a newsletter produced by CDFA, this resulted in poor workmanship on projects under the CDF.
The report indicates that among other projects where shoddy works were done included construction of Mohawa Bridge in Nthope ward, construction of Kamwankuku Bridge in Chiparamba ward and construction of Mbenjere Rural Health staff house in Sisinje ward.
This was discovered during the Budget Tracking through Community Social Auditing review meeting held recently.
“The newly constructed Mphawa Bridge has already collapsed barely a few months after completion causing most community members not to be able to access medical services at Chitandika Health post,” the report read in part.
The report further states that the most affected people were pregnant women, school-going children and the aged.
It also read that Chipata Municipal Council Deputy Director for Social Economic Planning, Elian Nyirenda, who was flanked by Kanjala ward councillor, Jelous Phiri and Sisinje Ward Councillor, Lugomo Phiri had difficulties to monitor CDF projects due to lack of resources.
The CDFA also stated that Ms Nyirenda at the local authority stated that only K20, 000 was allocated for administration purposes per constituency which was not enough to monitor all the projects in the constituency.
The report stated that Nelson Banda, a member of the Planning Subcommittee, observed that the committee also faced a challenge of transport to undertake CDF project Field Appraisals and monitoring.
“The Planning Sub-Committee made a proposal to the District Development Committee (DDCC) that a vehicle be procured to enable the sub-committee effectively monitor CDF funded projects,” the report reads.
The Chipata District Farmers Association is an independent association belonging to farmers of Chipata district and has engaged local people through the Budget Tracking through Community Social Auditing to monitor the implementation of CDF projects.
