Community participation in constituency development fund(CDF)projects in Lusaka city: The case of Kanyama Constituency(2008-2013)
Date
2016
Authors
Phiri, Phadaless
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Zambia
Abstract
The study examined the nature and level of community participation in Constituency Development Funded projects (CDF) in Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka City. In 1995, the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) was initiated in Zambia. The purpose of CDF is to provide local authorities with discretionary funds whose utilisation is solely for the provision of social services. CDF utilisation was expected to occur within a socially inclusive participatory framework. Since 1995, all the districts in Zambia have been eligible to receive the funds (Ministry of Local Government and Housing, 2006). The general objective of the study was to investigate the nature and level of community participation in Constituency Development Funded projects (CDF) in Kanyama Constituency. The specific objectives of the study were; to find out the nature of community participation in the identification, implementation and monitoring of CDF projects in Kanyama Constituency; to establish the level of community participation in the identification, implementation and monitoring of CDF projects in Kanyama Constituency; to establish factors accounting for the level of community participation in CDF projects in Kanyama Constituency. The sample size of this study was 300 household respondents residing in Kanyama Constituency. They consisted of 100 respondents from each of the wards in the Constituency namely, Kanyama, Harry Mwanga Nkumbula and Munkolo Wards. There was also one official from the Lusaka City Council and eight local leaders. Purposive sampling was used for key informants and informed respondents while systematic random sampling was used for household respondents. Both primary and secondary data were used for this research. Qualitative and quantitative data was also used for the study. The study found that community participation takes on different forms at different stages of the CDF project processes. The nature of community participation for the majority of local communities in CDF projects is generally limited to consultation and use of unskilled labour. Local communities are generally not actively involved in project identification, implementation and monitoring processes. The study found that the factors accounting for the level of community participation in CDF projects included lack of awareness and knowledge of CDF, lack of awareness about the right and opportunities for participation, inadequate information dissemination, poverty and poor community attitudes towards participation. The study recommends that local communities should be sufficiently sensitised to play an active role in the CDF process, in this regard, sub-district structures such as WDCs, ADCs, and RDCs will need to take up the responsibility of sensitising local communities to enable them make informed decisions.
Description
Master of Public Administration
Keywords
Community development-Kanyama,Zambia , Economic development projects-Kanyama,Zambia