Youths in Rumphi have expressed excitement at the revision of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocation for youth and women empowerment from five to 10 percent describing it as a right direction in fighting poverty.
Youth representative, Blessings Kawalewale, made the remarks on Saturday following a full council meeting which was convened to scrutinise and pass the 2024/2025 budget for Rumphi District Council which is pegged at K15.4 billion.
Kawalewale said that most youths in the district do not have access to economic opportunities due to lack of interventions towards their well-being.
He added that the increased allocation will be used as seed money for the youth to engage in economic activities thereby weaning themselves from poverty.
“We have already instructed the youth, through their networks, to organise themselves into groups so that they may access these resources,” said Kawalewale.
Chairperson for Rumphi District Council, Harry Munyenyembe, said the budget has been developed to primarily caution vulnerable people through various interventions.
“We have seen in the budget that there are increases in the number of participants and beneficiaries under Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods (SSRLP) such as Social Cash Transfer Programme and Climate Smart Public Works (CS-EPWP).
“The aim is to lessen the pain of the most vulnerable people in district,” said Munyenyembe.
Each constituency, currently, receives K100 million annually as CDF. Following the revision, K40 million of the allocation is meant for women and youth empowerment.