Chiefs sue MP over CDF materials
Traditional leaders in Mzimba Central Constituency have taken their Member of Parliament (MP), Joseph Kachali, to court for allegedly diverting school materials to another project in the area.
The materials were bought using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) whose implementation MPs manage. Each MP gets K5 million (about $12 500) per year as CDF to facilitate local development projects.
Kachali is facing the court suit, filed at the Lilongwe High Court district registry, alongside M’mbelwa (Mzimba) district commissioner Moses Chimphepo and Farmers World where the disputed materials were bought and are being kept.
According to court summons under miscellaneous civil cause number 37 of 2013, Kachali is the first defendant whereas Chimphepo and Farmers World are second and third defendants respectively.
Initially, hearing of the application was scheduled for June 13 2013 before being adjourned to July 23 2013 as the summons could not be served on Kachali who by then was attending the Budget Meeting of Parliament.
The chiefs behind the summons include group village head (GVHs) Chiotha Ngulube (presented as Chiothan Gulube on the court record), William Shumba, Nemoni Nyirongo and Chauluma Chavula. They have been joined by Mongola Primary School Committee members who were beneficiaries of the materials.
In an interview on Wednesday, Kachali said he was aware of the court action although he is yet to be served with the summons.
However, Kachali said he still suspects that some invisible forces are behind the summons because he would not expect the chiefs to travel from Mzimba to Lilongwe to file the case on their own.
Chimphepo also confirmed having been served with the summons, but said he was waiting for the MP to advise on the way forward.
The four GVHSs, all from Traditional Authority (T/A) Chindi, in April visited Nation Publications Limited (NPL) newsroom in Lilongwe to present their grievances.
The traditional leaders claimed that their efforts to track down the MP for more than a month to explain about the materials yielded nothing.
The materials bought through Farmers World are worth almost K1.6 million (about $4 000) and include bags of cement and lime, planks of wood, iron sheets, doors, door frames and assorted nails and paint.
