Revised Guidelines on the Management and Utilisation of Constituency Development Fund

REVISED GUIDELINES ON THE MANAGEMENT AND UTILISATION OF CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT FUND.

PREPARED FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT OF ZAMBIA.

RESEARCH PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT.

DECEMBER, 2016.

REVISED GUIDELINES ON THE MANAGEMENT AND UTILISATION OF THE CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT FUND (CDF)

1. INTRODUCTION

The constituency development fund (CDF) was approved by parliament in 1995, to finance micro-community projects for poverty reduction. As part of their annual capital programmes, each area member of parliament is mandated to include CDF for community based projects in his/her area. The CDF committee shall be required to account for the funds in accordance with the law. The CDF committee (CDFC) shall receive project proposals for approval from its ward development committees.

1. MEMBERSHIP OF THE CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT FUND COMMITTEE AND TERM OF OFFICE.

The area Member of Parliament shall constitute the CDFC of twelve (12) persons as follows:

Committee Member Number

(a) Area member of parliament 1

(b) Councillors 3

(c) Chiefs representative 1

(d) District planning officer1

(e) Director of works or engineering service 1

(f) Community leaders from civil society organisation and NGOs 1

(g) Community based organisations (CBOs) 1

(h) Church representative 1

(i) Community representative 2

(j) Constituency office Professional assistant – Secretary 1

The nominated members of the CDFC shall submit their curriculum vitea (CVs) to the area MP and record of their participation in community development work which will be presented to the councils for their information. The area MP shall nominate council officers to be on the CDFC in accordance with chairperson and mayors of the councils and cities, respectively

The area MP shall constitute the projects and procurement committees from within the constituency. In the absence of the area MP, his/her nominee shall preside over the meeting of the CDFC.

The tenure of office for the members of CDFC shall be two and half years renewable.

1. MODALITIES AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT FUNDS

(a) The CDFC shall administer the channelling and utilisation of the constituency development fund

(b) The authority to decide on the projects for utilisation of the constituency development fund (CDF) shall be vested in the area MP

(c) All payments to contractors executing constituency development projects shall be paid by bank cheques and no payments in cash shall be allowed

(d) In carrying out their duties, members of the CDFC shall be entitled to a sitting allowance of K500.00 such allowances will be drawn from the CDFC administrative grants of K100, 00.00 for rural and K70, 000.00 for urban constituencies respectively.

1. TYPES OF PROJECTS

The types of projects to be financed under the CDF shall be developmental in nature and appear as Appendix A herein and as approved by the CDFC.

1. NOTOFICATION FOR SUBMISSION OF PROJECT PROPOSALS.

The area member of parliament through their projects sub-committee shall invite ward development committees for proposals during the first quarter of every year by way of advertisements, open meetings and fixing of posters in conspicuous locations such as notice boards of schools, clinics and letters to chiefs, churches and village headmen and public media.

1. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION

(a) Project proposals shall be identified and prepared for submission by ward development committees to the CDFC receipts of funds

(b) The CDFC shall within one week make its decision on the proposed projects

(c) Only projects which have been appraised and approved by the area member of parliament shall be funded; and

(d) Implementation of projects shall be completed within the agreed upon contractual period.

1. NOTIFICATION OF APPROVED PROJECTS.

The area member of parliament shall advise the council chairperson or mayor on the approved projects. The purpose of doing this is to avoid duplication of funding the same projects from other sources.

1. PROJECTS IMPLEMENTATTION

The implementation of the projects shall involve local community participation in form of labour, both skilled and unskilled and use locally available materials (stones, sand etc) as much as possible.

For specialised works, the CDFC shall use flexible tender system in the invitation of tender offers from eligible contractors/ suppliers. Preference shall be given to local contractors and suppliers.

The procurement committees’ members and district planning officers shall be signatories to all contract agreements. All contracts shall be in writing and sealed as prescribed in the contract agreement form attached herein as Appendix B with a copy to the area MP.

1. DISBURSEMENT OF CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT FUNDS.

The ministry of finance in collaboration of local government shall disburse the funds directly to the constituency development fund accounts maintained by councils accompanied by a list of beneficiary constituencies and reflecting the allocation to each constituency in the district. The local authority shall be the spending agent.

1. BANK ACCOUNTS AND SIGNATORIES.

The council shall open special Bank Accounts in the name of each constituency.

There shall be four signatories to the constituency development fund bank Account.

The following shall form the panels of bank signatories on the CDF committee’s Account.

PANEL A

(i) Council Secretary

(ii) Council Treasurer.

PANEL B

Two persons drawn from CDFC with the exception of the area MP.

A cheque drawn on the CDFC Account or any instructions to the bank shall be signed by two (2) Bank signatories comprising one signatory from Pane (A) and one signatory from Panel (B).

1. RELEASE OF FUNDS FOR APPROVED PROJECTS (SPECIALISED WORKS)

(a) Advance Payment

The advance payment shall be maximum of 15% of the contract sum and shall be paid to the contractor within 15 days after award of contract.

(b) Mode of payment

Payment for certified work shall be in Zambian kwacha only. The client shall pay the contractor the certified sum within 14 days of receipts of the progress payment certificate (PPC) by the CDFC. The evaluations shall take place after 14 days by both the contractor and the CDFC. Minimum claim for any interim certificate by the contractor shall be set at 10% of the contract sum.

(c) Liquidated Damages

In the event of the contract not being completed by the completion date, liquidated damages shall be applied up to a maximum of 15% 0f the contract sum. This amount shall be deducted from the final account. If the overrun is due to unforeseeable or un predictable events beyond the control of the contractor, then a reasonable extension of time may be granted on the application by the contractor.

These shall be included in the contract.

(d) Valuation of Works Done.

At the time of evaluation for the progress payment certificate claims, the percentage of each activity completed is to be assessed and agreed between the Director of Work/Engineer and the contractor. This percentage shall be used to evaluate the amount due for that activity. If liquidated damages are due, then these should be deducted from the total sum. A payment shall be based on the certified works and as prescribed in the contract.

1. ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY.

In accordance with the local government Act Cap 281 of the Laws of Zambia and the Local Authorities Financial Regulations (Statutory Instrument No. 125 of 1992) auditing of constituency development fund shall be carried out regularly by the local government auditors of the ministry of local government and housing. The district treasurer/ Director of finance of the council shall maintain separate books of accounts for the constituency development fund committee in each district. They shall prepare monthly receipts and payments accounts supported by the bank reconciliation statements for each account to be submitted to the office of the provincial local government officer with copies to the permanent secretary , minister of local government and housing and the area member of parliament.

1. PENALTY

Any abuse of the funds under the constituency development fund by way of misapplication or misappropriation by the spending agent or its agents shall result in the suspension of the spending agent or forfeiture of its grants until the reimbursement of the affected constituency development fund by any member of the spending agent or its agents shall results in legal action against the culprit. Any spending agent involved in abusing, mismanaging, defrauding or stealing any money from this fund shall be prosecuted.

1. MINUTES.

The CDFC in conjunction with the spending agent shall maintain records of the proceedings of all its meetings by the committee’s secretary. Quarterly copies of such minutes shall be availed for information purposed to the local authority and council chairperson or mayor of the city and the community.

1. REPORTING AND MONITORING.

The CDFC or its agents shall monitor the projects implementation on monthly basis or as often as necessary depending on the nature and stage of the projects. The community shall be involved during monitoring. The monitoring team shall prepare progress reports on behalf of the CDFC supported by the accounts for the quarter and availed to the council which shall cause the relevant council committee to advise the ministry of local government on progress achieved in the implementation of micro-community projects and programmes in constituencies.

1. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.

K100, 000.00 AND k70, 000.00 for rural and urban constituencies respectively shall be retained in the accounts of the constituency to meet administrative costs of administering the CDF committee including auditing.

Monitoring and evaluation of the projects shall be made by the CDFC in liaison with the council chairperson / mayor. The cost of transport, stationery, per diem or cover food and accommodation shall be a cost on CDFC administrative grant as at No. 3 (d) above.

1. PROJECT EVALUATION.

The evaluation of the project shall be carried out by the CDFC and may include officers from appropriate government departments. The evaluation exercise shall be done upon completion of the project but before the disbursement of the following year’s constituency development fund. The evaluation team shall prepare a report for the information of the council chairperson or mayor of a city, municipal council.

1. FUNDING FOR PRODUCTION OF ANNUAL REPORT ON THE CONSTITUENCY DEVELPMENT FUND.

The ministry of local government and housing will carry out regular audit inspections in accordance with the local government Act Chapter 281 of the Laws of Zambia, the Guidelines on the management and utilisation of constituency development fund and physical verification of completed projects in all 156 constituencies in Zambia. This is for the production of an annual report on the performance of the constituency development fund for submission to the cabinet office and parliament.

1. ANNUAL REPORT TO CABNET AND PARLIAMENT.

The minister of local government and housing shall submit to cabinet and subsequently to parliament an annual report on the operations of the constituency development fund.

APPENDIX “A”

Examples of Projects Eligible for Constituency Development Fund

Water Supply and Sanitation.

(i) Construction and rehabilitation of wells

(ii) Construction and rehabilitation of small scale dams

(iii) Construction and rehabilitation of boreholes

(iv) Piped water supply system

(v) Construction and rehabilitation of pit latrines or water borne sanitation system

(vi) Drainage system

Roads

(i) Construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads ( feeder and community roads inclusive) especially by labour – based methods

(ii) Bridged construction and maintenance

(iii) Culvert installation

(iv) Cause way construction

(v) Canals, waterways embankments

Agriculture Project

(i) Livestock and poultry rearing piggeries

(ii) Irrigation

(iii) Marketing activities

(iv) Basic farming machinery

(v) Agricultural inputs seeds fertilizers, pesticides etc

Other Social Activities

Markets and Bus Shelters

(i) Construction and rehabilitation of markets

(ii) Construction and rehabilitation of bus shelters.

Education and health Programmes

(i) Rehabilitation of education facilities ,desks inclusive

(ii) Rehabilitation of health facilities

(iii) Health programmes such as nutrition etc

(iv) Education programmes such literacy programmes

(v) Educational sponsorship for the vulnerable

Sport and Recreation

Rehabilitation and construction of;

(i) Community halls, nurseries and gardens

(ii) Recreational facilities, e.g. parks, play grounds and play fields

(iii) Indoor recreational facilities e.g. welfare halls

Other Economic Activities

(i) Income generating (carpentry, tailoring and designing etc)

Appendix B

CONTRACT AGREEMENT FORM.

THIS AGREEMENT is made on the...... day of ...... 20...... between the CDFC of P.O. Box...... on behalf of the Government of Republic of Zambia (hereinafter called ‘the employer’) on one part and ...... of

(Address)...... (hereinafter called the employer’) on one part and

...... of (Address)...... whereas the Employer is desirous that certain works should be executed, Viz: the Project

Title)...... and has

accepted a tender by the contractor for the execution of such works.

NOW THIS AGREEMENT WITNESSETH as follows:

1. In this agreement works and expressions shall have same meaning as are respectively assigned to them in the combination of tender hereinafter referred to.
2. The following document shall be deemed to form and be read and be constructed as part of the agreement Viz:

(a) This form agreement

(b) The letter of acceptance from the contractor

(c) The said tender

(d) The notices, documentations and correspondence

(e) The conditions of tender

(f) The specifications of particular application

(g) The standard specification

(h) The prices Bill of Quantities.

1. The aforesaid documents shall be taken as complementary and mutually explanatory of one another but in the cases of conflict or inconsistency, precedence shall take the order set out above
2. The consideration of the payment to be made by the employer or the contractor as herein after mentioned the contractor hereby, covenants with the employer to execute, complete and maintain the works in conformity in all respect with the provisions of the contract.
3. The employer herby covenants to apy the considerations of the execution, completion and maintenance of the works, the contract price at the times and in the manner prescribed by the contract.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF to the parties hereto have caused their respective commons seals to be hereunto set their respective hands seals) the date first above written.

SIGNED AND DELIVERED

EMPLOYER

......

NAME...... (Procurement Committee Member)

Signature......

......

WITNESS......

NAME...... (District Planning Officer)

CONTRACTORS/SUPPLIER

NAME......

Title......

Signature......