K173 billion budget cheers CLRI’s Mundia Paul Hakoola

K173 billion budget cheers CLRI’s Mundia Paul Hakoola

By Derrick Sinjela and Theresa Bwalya Kalenga

CONTINENTAL Leadership Research Institute (CLRI) describes Finance Minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane’s K173 billion 2022 budget presented on behalf of President Hakainde Sammy Hichilema as a good and ambitious preposition.

In a Friday 5th November, 2021 ‘Press Statement
Budget Speaks to Decentralization’, Mr. Hakoola is delighted that the 2022 budget that needs hard work by all stakeholders to achieve its targets and objectives.

Hakoola says CLRI is elated over the noted increase in allocation to Constituency Development Fund (CDF), as this gesture speaks to decentralization of development to constituencies were the communities will draw their own development plan with their own key priority areas.

“CLRI recognises that one of the major reasons why rural areas have not been able to progressively develop has been attributed to lack of resources and the increase of CDF presents that opportunity for rural constituency to develop. This will also require a lot capacity building to be conducted in most of these constituencies and also to ensure that the right human resource is in place to implement the projects on the ground, we also alive to the fact that decentralization will empower local communities while exposing ineffective elected officials and their staff because they have no reason not to develop their communities when financial resources have been made available,” says Mundia Paul Hakoola a devolution advocate.

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Noted Mundia Paul Hakoola: “CLRI shares great concern on the ignorance by some Members of Parliament and local authorities on the role of Ward Development Committees (WDC) and CDF in the developmental agenda of the country and what the roles are of the elected officials in matters relating to CDF. The knowledge gap worries us because these are the people who are supposed to ensure they work towards implementing constituency development through the CDF funds allocated but if they don’t even understand their role and that of WDC in implementation CDF funds there is need to ensure their trained on the various legal provisions in relating CDF and also what is expected of them”.

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Hakoola called upon the central government through Local Government and Rural Development Minister Gary Nkombo and other line Ministries, the office of Auditor General and State House Monitoring and Evaluation Office to develop strong evaluation tools to track progress on various projects and ensure that systems are put in place to monitor the projects and also ensure there is prudent management of public resources, at this point it is important that computerized systems are developed for easy tracking and management across Zambia.

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“We take this opportunity to call on youth and women to start forming cooperatives and companies and not wait for the last minute so that they participate in the 25% allocation for empowerment programs under CDF, we are aware that opportunity meets people who are prepared so the youth don’t have to wait for next year to start putting their houses in order.
Finally, such a budget needs proactive ministers to ensure that they follow up programs within their ministries to ensure that objectives are being meet. Thank you and God Bless our land,” advised Hakoola. 

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