Malawi: MP Ayuba Urges Govt to Admit It Cannot Afford K5 Billion CDF Promise

A Member of Parliament has challenged the government to stop making promises it cannot fulfil and openly admit that it does not have enough money to finance the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) at the promised level of K5 billion per constituency.

Speaking amid growing frustration over delayed CDF disbursements, MP Sylvester Ayuba James said the government would earn more public trust by telling Malawians the truth instead of repeatedly announcing funds that have yet to reach constituencies.

"It is laughable that the government continues making announcements about the money when it has not even started releasing it," Ayuba James said.

He suggested that the government should consider reducing the allocation to a level it can realistically finance.

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"Perhaps they should reduce it to K2 billion or K3 billion per constituency if that is what they can afford," he said.

His remarks come as all 225 constituencies across Malawi continue to wait for the full K5 billion allocation that the government promised under the revised CDF framework.

The government introduced the new CDF model to strengthen transparency and accountability after years of audit reports exposed widespread abuse and mismanagement of constituency funds under the previous system.

Under the reforms, money is no longer transferred directly to councils in bulk. Instead, funds are released on a project-by-project basis through the Malawi Local Government Finance Committee after projects have been approved and procurement requirements have been met.

The reforms were intended to ensure public money is spent on completed and verifiable projects while reducing opportunities for misuse.

However, despite the ambitious pledge to increase CDF allocations to K5 billion per constituency, progress has been slow.

So far, the government has released only K7.5 billion nationwide--representing a tiny fraction of the more than K1.125 trillion required to fully fund all 225 constituencies at K5 billion each.

The slow pace of funding has raised concerns among legislators, many of whom say communities are becoming increasingly impatient as promised development projects remain on hold.

CDF is one of Malawi's flagship decentralised development programmes, financing projects such as classroom blocks, health facilities, roads, bridges, markets, water infrastructure and other community priorities identified at constituency level.

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With the new financial year underway, pressure is mounting on the government to either mobilise sufficient resources to honour its commitment or revise the allocation to a level that matches the country's fiscal realities.