Residents in Dowa may soon see tougher scrutiny on how Constituency Development Funds are handled, as a local NGO steps in to demand greater transparency in how public money is used at constituency level.
Mponela Aids Information and Counseling Centre (MAICC) has announced it will implement a nine-month Malawi Anti-Corruption Civil Society Support Interventions (MACCSSI) project aimed at strengthening district-level accountability in CDF management across three constituencies in Dowa.
The move comes amid growing concerns over how CDF resources are being managed at local level, with communities often questioning whether projects reflect value for money or are influenced by poor oversight and weak enforcement systems.
Under the project, MAICC will work with several partners including Adam Smith International, which is providing grant facility support, and the Human Rights and Governance Technical Working Group, which will act as facilitator.
Others involved include the Dowa District Civil Society Organizations Network, which will provide oversight, the Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency (CSAT), the Information Platform for Public Infrastructure, and Constituency Development Committees themselves, who sit at the centre of CDF implementation.
Presenting the project to the District executive committee (Dec) in Dowa, MAICCs Program Manager George Kaunda, said the initiative will enhance CDF accountability, transparency and inclusive citizen participation across constituences by equipping communities with evidence, confidence, and the capacity for collective action to challenge social, political, and gendered barriers that undermine equitable development.
Kaunda said the project will be implemented with an objective of strengthening accountability, participation, and transparency in CDF implementation by linking Constituency – level evidence with district and national advocacy and reform processes.
He said despite the existence of formal CDF guidelines, 50 percent plus of projects monitored under MACCSSI failed transparency, procurement, and participation standards, nepotism, substandard materials, and abandoned projects.
The manager said rapid disbursement deadlines, rushed procurement and weak participatory adherence, and increasing corruption risks, citizens lack timely data on allocations on project statuses and expenditures, are some of the emerging issues in CDF management.
He said Members of Parliament and Councilors exert informal control over project selection, procurement, and implementation, Area Development Committees, Community Development Committees and Project Implementation Committees are compromised.
“There have been insufficient accountability, national advocacy platforms lack consistent,” said Kaunda.
He said CDF has now subsumed District Development Fund (DDF) – primary local development mechanism saying the rapid resource scaling has outpaced accountability mechanisms and weak safeguards in transparency, community participation and accountability.
The manager said Dowa Civil Society organizations Network will bridge national CDF guidelines with district – level realities with a goal of strengthening transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in CDF implementation.
He said the Dowa Governance Technical Working Group will support strengthening of District – Level Accountability and implementation of CDF management.
“The project will put communities at the centre of evidence generation, multi – platform communication and engagement,” said Kaunda.
He said the project will build the capacity of the communities’ structures to be able to demand accountability in the management of CDF and adherence to set guidelines, integration with the IPPI Platform, among other approaches.
The manager said there will be a community owned rating and verification system where a standardized user – friendly citizen accountability scorecard will be used to assess every CDF funded project at three critical stages of planning, procurement and contracting, implementation and completion.
Kaunda expressed hope that the project will empower citizens on CDF management, sustainable development with equity, expanded inclusive and effective spaces for CDF negotiations, accountable and effective public authorities and other power holders on CDF.
In his remarks, Dowa District Council’s Principal Environmental Officer Yusuf Laki, advised MAICC to share progress of the project to the council to enhance cooperation, transparency and accountability.
