ZANU PF MPs Demand Constituency Development Fund In US Dollars
ZANU PF Members of Parliament have demanded the disbursement of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations in United States dollars, reported ZimLive.
The legislators, who spoke at an induction workshop for MPs recently, claimed that service providers were rejecting the Zimbabwe dollar.
The workshop was boycotted by opposition CCC MPs who were protesting the controversial expulsion of their colleagues that was initiated by self-imposed party secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu.
All 210 constituencies in Zimbabwe get the equivalent of US$50 000 CDF in local currency, based on the exchange rate on the day of disbursement.
The official exchange rate is currently $5 633 per United States dollar.
Tsholotsho South MP Musa Ncube said most service providers, such as transporters, do not accept the local currency. Said Ncube:
The reason why sometimes we do not quickly use the CDF is what we encounter with the service providers.
Most of the service providers refuse to take local currency.
That’s why at times we opt to buy cement because some cement companies still accept Zimbabwe dollars.
The idea would be to offload the money quickly before it is eroded by inflation.
Transporters are not taking RTGs because they cannot relay the money into buying fuel which is priced in US dollars.
Murewa West MP, Farai Jere, said the CDF should be increased “so that an MP can do a project in every ward of a constituency”.
Mwenezi West MP Priscilla Moyo urged the Treasury to disburse CDF promptly so that MPs can eat inflation.
National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda acknowledged that CDF administered in US dollars was essential. He added:
The problem needs to be brought to the attention of the Minister of Finance because it is a real problem where the supplier demands payment in USD.
However, MPs’ request for the grants to be disbursed in foreign currency goes against Government policy and President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s recent declaration to ditch the multi-currency regime in future.
More: Pindula News
