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Audit the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) urges Hurungwe and Karoi residents
Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ)
May 24, 2011

Residents of Hurungwe and Karoi in Mashonaland West province have called for auditing of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which they say was abused by parliamentarians. "We are calling on the Inclusive government to audit the funds disbursed to MPs. Some of the MPs did not consult with us and projects were implemented secretly and selectively to benefit those wards considered supportive of the MP", said one participant. The participant was speaking at a community dialogue meeting that was organized by The Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe in Hurungwe. The community dialogue meeting was one in a series of similar meetings that are held by the CCDZ to educate the public on the referendum and preparation for elections. The meetings also bring together political leaders such as councilors and traditional leaders to meet with their constituencies to discuss about local level politics and how to build and promote peace and political tolerance.

Residents in Hurungwe and Karoi voiced their dissatisfaction over the poor service delivery they experience at the hands of their local councils. They said any developments in their areas did not come from consultations with them but were foisted upon them against their wishes. Grinding mills instead of boreholes were given as an example of such imposed development in Hurungwe and participants from all three areas claimed they had never heard of the Constituency Development Fund which is meant to benefit their areas following wide-ranging consultations between elected leadership and residents. Residents further voiced that they were not called for consultative or feed back meetings by their local councilors or MPs, with some declaring they did not even know who their representatives were.

Participants also expressed disappointment at the rampant lack of information and feedback on the Constitution-Making process. They made reference to COPAC consultations not being adequately publicized in their communities and were concerned on the correctness of the views they gave to COPAC, even describing the process as secretive. "The politicians are taking us for granted. They are now advertising the Thematic Committees and yet they failed to do the same with the most critical public outreach phase," said one participant.

Participants at all three meetings were adamant that it was premature to hold elections in 2011 as the Global Political Agreement was yet to be fully implemented and that a new Constitution was a pre-requisite for holding the polls. The new Constitution was seen as a guarantee of sorts from preventing the return of widespread politically motivated violence as a precursor to polls and would also prevent the formation of another Government of National Unity. Communities also decried the lack of access to national identity documents which they would need to register as voters. They told CCDZ of being sent in circles by their local Registrar-General's office and that they fear they will not be able to vote in the Referendum or elections as a result of not having ID documents. National healing also came to the fore in the meetings with participants proposing that village heads and churches should lead the process and not politicians who benefitted from the political upheavals that tore communities apart during the 2008 election period. Village heads who attended meetings in Hurungwe also called for the new Constitution to be in place before the elections saying that would 'level the ground'.

Participants urged civic society organizations to maintain active ties in communities and keep them abreast with development in the country and urged CCDZ to continue to visit with more activities that would equip them to participate more effectively in national processes.

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