Malawi's Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has effectively fallen under the control of foreign donors after government failed to put in place a trusted and corruption-free system to manage the K5 billion meant for village development.
Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha has confirmed that donors will begin funding the CDF from April, but only under strict conditions of transparency and accountability. His warning to MPs and councillors was blunt: if they continue fighting over the fund and abusing it, the money will be lost.
He said donors have made it clear that the CDF is not money to be shared or used for political battles, but must be used for real community projects that can be accounted for. In simple terms, Malawi will only receive the money if donors are satisfied with how it is managed.
This shift follows years of conflict and controversy around the CDF. The fund was meant to bring development directly to communities, but instead became a tool for political influence. MPs and councillors fought over who controls the money, often turning projects into political rewards. Last year, the High Court ruled that MPs should not be involved in managing CDF because it violates the Constitution and the separation of powers.
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Although Parliament later passed a bill to regulate CDF, President Peter Mutharika refused to sign it, leaving the fund in legal uncertainty. With no clear law and widespread fear of misuse, donors stepped in to protect their money.
Under the donor-backed system now being proposed, CDF will no longer be controlled by politicians. Funds will be kept in special constituency accounts with multiple signatories, and communities will be expected to decide which projects they want. All spending will have to be recorded, monitored and explained. MPs will not be allowed to handle the money on their own.
While this may reduce theft and abuse, it also means Malawi has lost real control over one of its most important development tools. Donors will now set the rules, decide how money is released and demand strict reporting before more funds are given. In effect, Malawi's own leaders are no longer trusted to manage money meant for their own people.
Civil society groups have warned that this is a dangerous situation. They say CDF must be governed by law, not by donor conditions, and that local councils, not politicians or foreign funders, should be in charge. They are calling for strong citizen oversight, transparency and a proper legal framework to protect public funds.
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The donor takeover of CDF is a clear sign of a deeper problem. It shows that Malawi's political system failed to protect a small but vital pool of money meant for villages. When leaders cannot be trusted with K5 billion for clinics, schools and roads, outsiders step in.
Malawi did not lose CDF because donors wanted power. It lost it because corruption, political greed and weak governance made it impossible for the country to be trusted with its own development money.
