BANKERS Association of Zambia (BAZ) chairperson Mizinga Melu says banks are committed to ensuring that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is disbursed quickly and accordingly to the people on the ground.

In an interview, Wednesday, Melu said the quicker the banks facilitated the disbursement of funds, the quicker everyone would be empowered.

“I think where we come in as bankers is to facilitate the disbursement of the Constituency Development Fund, and we have committed to the Ministry of Finance of the banks’ commitments in ensuring that CDF is disbursed quickly and accordingly to the people on the ground. When we say CDF is disbursed, we mean immediately the money is released. Our job is to give clients the facilities that they need to enhance the disbursement of CDF. Because if you look at the cycle of CDF, somebody is building a desk of a school, they will need a facility to support them to build the desk before they are paid by the ministry,” said Melu.

“We come in to provide that gap and then the quicker we are able to empower and enhance everyone. We have already started and that is really where we come in to ensure that we facilitate the disbursement of the CDF quickly to the community in line with their needs. Our job is to work with a client. I think the biggest challenge is to ensure we support people with financial skills because financial skill development will be key.”

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Gary Nkombo announced that the Treasury has released K805 million of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for the first quarter of this year.

According to a statement issued by Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development public relations officer Chila Namaiko, Wednesday, Nkombo stated that the 156 Constituencies would each receive K5.1 million.