Abstract
This research set out to explore how the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), a monetary injection apportioned to constituencies to spur local/community/constituency development in Zambia, has impacted the constituents of Matero Constituency, one of Zambia’s 156 constituencies. Introduced in 1995, CDF is more than a fund; it is also meant to entrench Zambia’s decentralisation. The timeframe under discussion is after 2021, when the United Party for National Development (UPND) won the August 2021 election. In its first budget, the UPND government increased CDF by 1,600%. This study wanted to explore if this significant increase in CDF has had a positive impact on Matero constituents – especially the youth and women who have been historically marginalised. By impact, the study meant improved awareness of CDF and more emphasis on the use of CDF for bursaries and skills development rather than easily recognizable community projects such as infrastructure. The research followed an interpretivist/constructivist research paradigm, and was qualitative in nature. Deductive research, with predetermined themes (used in the previous sentences as impact) was used to interpret gathered information. The study used three theoretical frameworks (community development, Batho Pele, and stakeholder-agency theory) and makes several conclusions: the first is that the member of parliament (MP) exercises dominant influence over the selection of CDF beneficiaries. Secondly, due to the lack of inclusivity and influential participation among constituents, the increases in CDF seem to have had little impact on Matero residents. Thirdly, while the MP was prolific in announcing CDF applications and deliveries of community projects, the same vigour was not present when it came publishing annual reviews and reports of CDF. Fourthly, while there was widespread use of social media to announce CDF provisions, there seemed to be no deliberate focus on the youth and women. While the paper apportions a lot of its findings on the MP, it also notes that CDF legislation enables MP dominance. In sum the study concluded that while appreciable efforts have been made to make Matero residents aware of CDF, this has not directly translated into positive impact as understood in the research. The dominance and political ambitions of the MP, the limited role of the CDFC in disseminating information and accepting reviews, and the lack of a concerted management of CDF communication that transcends the MP’s control, justify the somewhat negative conclusions drawn by this research.