JUSTICE Minister Mulambo Haimbe says implementation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) will go a long way in dealing with impatience among the youths.

In an interview, Haimbe said there would be a change in people’s mindsets once CDF was disbursed.

“I feel that the implementation of the CDF will go a long way in dealing with that impatience, especially on the part of the youths. I think we have demonstrated so far that steps that [we] will take in an orderly fashion, in a well-planned fashion are better than any of these previous steps that have been taken in a less organised way, the chipante pante way that we have been seeing in the past. So it is a mindset shift, people will get to understand that we want to achieve sustainable results, we have to take a properly calculated route rather than just simply reacting to what the people might seem to want at a given time. Yes, I can foresee that with the CDF soon to be disbursed after the close of the first quarter as the law prescribes, we are going to see some change in the mindset,” he said.

And Haimbe said there was need to amend certain portions of the Constitution in order to ensure that there was a prudent use of funds.

“The law and the guidelines are very clear, there is a CDF act that prescribes what should be done. The law is very clear, the guidelines are also very clear. Of course, people have said there are one or two areas that need clarification in the guidelines, I think the Minister of Local Government is looking at that. Really the onus is on us as MPs not necessarily the Ministries or the government once that money is released, we need to be prudent, not just as MPs but the CDF committee as a whole needs to be very strong in ensuring that those monies are properly used and that we have oversight. I personally feel that there is need to amend certain portions of the Constitution which for example remove MPs from the council. I think there is need for us to go back in the council so that we can have direct oversight there as well on how those monies are used and disbursed,” said Haimbe.

“Most importantly, I think the people need to be very proactive, they need to watch their MPs, they need to watch the WDC in order for these issues to succeed to a 100 percent, because they should be their own gate keepers, because you can’t leave this huge sum of money in our hands alone without there being checks and balances from the people who it is supposed to benefit. That they can do by putting their Ward Development Committees to task, by putting their local authorities to task and by putting ourselves, the MPs, and the CDF committee to task on how the funds are being utilized. This is one where the people must be the gatekeepers.”