HWANGE East legislators Joseph Bonda has expressed concern over failure by government to disburse Constituency Development Funds on time, arguing that the move has a detrimental effect on already marginalised constituencies.
Bonda told Southern Eye that he never received the funds since he was elected in 2023.
CDF are public resources allocated by the government every year to individual parliamentary constituencies for local development projects aimed at financing small-scale locally-identified projects for social and economic development.
Out of 210 constituencies in the country, only 71 constituencies have received the funds.
“We get them in batches, but the government is taking too long to disburse them, such that some of the constituencies end up being affected by the lack of these funds,” Bonda said.
“There is no carryover of these funds and the fact that we are now going for the 2026 budget analysis, which starts this week this effectively means that for the third consecutive year, my constituency is not going to be getting the funds again,” he said.
Bonda said villagers were complaining that the government could not be seen buying cars for individuals, while ignoring the suffering communities.
“I have a CDF committee that I work with, consisting of the chief, to spearhead development. We had intended to buy 200 desks since 2023 for Detema Secondary School because children are using the floors, but this has not yet come to fruition,” he said. “At Vunda, we need 40 desks; at Jambezi Secondary School, we need 30 desks.”
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He said Ndomichenga Primary School in Kamativi needed teachers’ accommodation.
“This is a school with only three teachers due to a shortage of accommodation. I am not sure where they are staying now; this creates a mass exodus of teachers out of the constituency. Lupote needs a fence to protect our children and
teachers from wild animals,” Bonda said.
He said the constituency had been invaded by wild animals, which had negatively affected the learners.
“We want to commend the government for the introduction of village business units, but we are failing to complement its efforts because there is no funding.
“Water challenges are also a cause for concern, such that villagers are sharing drinking water with the wild animals. They leave their buckets in the queue overnight and when they come back the following day, they find them having been destroyed by hyenas,” Bonda said.
He complained that some legislators are getting the funds while others are not.
