By Mubanga Mubanga
Lundazi member of parliament Brenda Nyirenda has accused President Hakainde Hichilema of lying on the floor of the house when he said some members of parliament were frustrating the implementation of Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Last week, President Hichilema complained about the slow uptake of CDF saying some members of parliament were frustrating the implementation of the funds.
But speaking in an interview with Daily Revelation yesterday, Nyirenda complained about the non-availability of CDF funds in her constituency and wondered how she would frustrate funds that were not available.
“In the first place he speaks to two things. On one end he says the funds are not being released and then when you read further that speech, he comes to the conclusion where he says the funds which members of parliament don’t have power over. So now in just one speech he is able to say something and then proves himself wrong again,” Nyirenda said.
She said it seemed lying was part of President Hichilema.
“So now what is it you can see? So it is up to you journalists to take keen interest to read that speech in full. Because on the other end he was saying MP’s are being blamed for money which they are not even having power over,” she said. “So now you can imagine he proves himself wrong. And if lying is part of him l don’t know what type of a leader we have.”
Nyirenda said whoever was feeding the President with information, was feeding him with half-baked information, because there was no way a member of parliament could frustrate the CDF.
“The President doesn’t have the truth. Members of parliament cannot block development. If anything, a member of parliament wants to see his or her constituency develop. There is a challenge with information that the President has, because it is half baked. He is being told something else and they are presenting something else” Nyirenda said.
He also challenged President Hichilema to bring evidence to parliament that he released the CDF money for Lundazi Constituency.
“Let him bring proof in Parliament. When we are speaking, we are always asked to lay evidence on the floor, on the table. Let them prove that. Let them bring evidence on the table that he has given Lundazi 2024 CDF on the floor of the house. Then he should say that Brenda is sitting on that money,” she said.
Nyirenda said this could be a ploy to dent the name of opposition members by not releasing CDF money on time.
“This is September and the money for CDF 2024 has not been released. We sat in November last year to approve projects for 2024. But not even a coin has been released for projects. What miracle can a member of parliament do?” Nyirenda said. “Maybe he is doing it for opposition members of parliaments so that they can be seen not to be working. If genuinely, money for CDF is genuinely there it should be released. Why did they start mopping up the funds? Because they wanted to create a situation where opposition members of parliament will be seen as blocking the development.”
Nyirenda said if she was given K30 Million today, the money would finish before 12:00 hours due to the numerous problems which Lundazi had.
She urged President Hichilema to visit different constituencies and appreciate the situation instead of just speaking from without.
“When you are elected you don’t take the first flight to America,” said Nyirenda. “When you are elected you take the first trip to Lundazi to go and see what is obtaining there. So that when you are making decisions they are not parallel to what your people need.”
She also said maybe President Hichilema was doing this to compel members of the opposition to join UPND.
“But for me, l can only be tempted to move to someone who is showing genuineness. Not someone who comes on the floor and lies with impunity. That is not attractive anyway and when he is playing around with the lives of people I resent that kind of person,” said Nyirenda.
