You can not approve such significant resources without clear guidance – Belekanyama

Lilongwe Msinja Member of Parliament Francis Belekanyama has warned that the absence of clear implementation guidelines for the reformed Constituency Development Fund (CDF) risks undermining accountability and effective use of billions allocated to constituencies.

Speaking in Parliament, Belekanyama stressed that approving large sums of public funds without a defined framework creates serious governance gaps.“You cannot approve such significant resources without providing clear guidance on how those resources will be used,” he said.

Parliament recently passed a budget allocating about K1.2 trillion for constituencies, equivalent to roughly K5 billion per constituency.

However, Belekanyama argued that without guidelines outlining procurement procedures, project selection, and approval systems, implementation remains unclear.

He said the lack of direction is already creating confusion at council level, where decisions on projects and spending are reportedly being made without proper consultation of key stakeholders, including Members of Parliament, councillors, and area development committees.

According to the legislator, this risks sidelining community input and opens the door to potential mismanagement of funds meant for development projects such as schools, health facilities, and road infrastructure.

Belekanyama emphasized that his concerns are rooted in governance and accountability, not politics, and called for the guidelines to be brought before Parliament for scrutiny and consensus.

But Minister of Information Shadrach Namalomba played down the concerns, maintaining that the guidelines will be issued before any funds are disbursed.

Responded to the concerns- Namalomba

“The budget has just been passed, and today is the first day of the financial year. By the time disbursement begins, the guidelines will be in place,” he said.

Namalomba added that government would not release funds of such magnitude without a proper framework and urged lawmakers to avoid politicizing the matter.

The delay follows a directive by the President, who tasked the Ministries of Justice and Finance with developing guidelines for the reformed CDF after declining to assent to a constitutional amendment bill that included provisions for the same.

With the new financial year now underway, attention is focused on how quickly the government will finalize the guidelines to ensure the funds are used transparently and effectively.