BULAWAYO - Government is yet to release funds unveiled by Finance Minister, Tendai Biti The delay has been caused by lack of enabling legislation to oversee the administration of the funds, Eric Matinenga, the Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister has said.
Biti announced the launch of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for legislators during his budget presentation in December last year.
He allocated US$50 000 per constituency in a bid to improve livelihoods and infrastructure in the constituencies.
In an interview, Matinenga explained that the CDF funds would not be released until enabling legislation was in place.
What Biti did was to provide a facility. The Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs is working on a Bill to provide for the establishment and operations of these funds.
Once the draft is completed, the Minister will have to take it to the Cabinet Committee on Legislation and Cabinet for approval before it can be submitted to Parliament. As it is, the CDF Bill has not been set up yet and there are no funds that have been disbursed to anyone because of lack of such legislation, Matinenga said.
The funds are supposed to be used for construction of boreholes, repair of schools and clinics, purchase of generators, in accordance with an annual development plan drawn up by a committee of elected councillors chaired by the local legislator.
South Africa, Botswana and Namibia are among countries in the Southern African region which run similar funds.
During Bitis budget presentation, the Finance Minister said the CDF was not intended to replace or compete with local authority structures and ministries decentralized structure.
Post published in: World News