By Wanangwa Tembo:
Every morning before sunrise, 54-year-old Misheki Zikono rides his bicycle for nearly two kilometres from his home in Traditional Authority Kaluluma in Kasungu District to fetch water before preparing his children for school.
He rushes to arrive early because the shallow community well that supplies water to the area dries up quickly once villagers begin drawing water.
During the dry season, the situation becomes even worse.
“Sometimes the water becomes very little, and during the rainy season it turns muddy. But for years, this has remained our only source of water,” says Zikono.
“We drink this water because we have no choice. That is why children here frequently suffer from diarrhoea.”
After completing his household chores, Zikono travels another six kilometres to Nkhamenya Trading Centre, where he runs a small restaurant serving traders and bicycle taxi operators.
But even there, access to safe water remains a major challenge.
“The water problem affects businesses too,” he explains. “Food preparation requires proper hygiene, but without reliable water, it becomes difficult to maintain those standards.”
For many rural communities in Kasungu and other parts of Malawi, poor access to clean water continues to undermine public health, sanitation and small-scale economic activities.
About 85 kilometres east of Kasungu Town in Kapichira, Rose Makamo faces a different but equally painful reality.
“Our roads are very bad, especially during the rainy season,” she says. “Pregnant women are sometimes carried on makeshift stretchers because vehicles cannot reach us.”
Makamo says poor road infrastructure continues to make access to healthcare difficult for many rural families.
Such struggles remain common across Malawi’s rural communities, where poor infrastructure, inadequate social services and limited investment have slowed development for decades.
Now, many people believe 2026 could mark a turning point.
Communities across the country have pinned their hopes on the newly reformed Constituency Development Fund (CDF), which will see each constituency receiving K5 billion annually for development projects.
The allocation represents the largest expansion of the fund since its introduction in 2006, when constituencies received just K1 million each year. Over time, the allocation gradually increased to K220 million.
The Democratic Progressive Party promised during its campaign to raise the allocation to K5 billion annually per constituency, a pledge that has now been fulfilled.
With 229 constituencies expected to benefit, the programme is projected to inject more than K1.14 trillion into local development projects nationwide.
President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika recently described the initiative as a major step towards accelerating grassroots development through decentralisation.
“My Government has prioritised decentralisation to improve efficiency, accountability and accelerate development at the grassroots level,” Mutharika told Parliament in February.
He also stressed the need for transparency in managing the funds.
“To ensure transparency and accountability, my Government has developed CDF guidelines and will invest in a national CDF digital dashboard to give Malawians real-time access to information on CDF,” he said.
Across the country, councils have already begun preparing for implementation.
Most councils have finalised their Annual Investment Plans, outlining priority projects identified through consultations involving Village Development Committees, Area Development Committees and Constituency Development Committees.
In Kasungu, Director of Planning and Development Simeon Labana says the district has prioritised projects that directly respond to challenges communities face daily.
Safe water supply remains one of the district’s biggest priorities.
“We want to expand reticulated water systems so that communities can access reliable and safe drinking water,” says Labana.
The district also plans to invest in forest restoration initiatives, irrigation dams, rehabilitation of Extension Planning Areas and construction of staff houses for extension workers.
Health infrastructure has also been prioritised.
According to Labana, the district intends to construct and upgrade health centres, maternity wings and guardian shelters while improving water systems and accommodation for health workers.
Education infrastructure is another key focus area.
“We also want to improve classroom infrastructure and provide desks for learners,” he says.
Road infrastructure projects are expected to improve connectivity and stimulate local economic activities, while councils also plan to procure ambulances and graders to strengthen emergency response and road maintenance.
“These interventions are intended to ensure that communities see visible development on the ground,” Labana explains.
Kasungu District Commissioner Lawford Palani says the council has already established systems to ensure proper implementation and accountability.
“To ensure the district performs well under the Local Authorities Performance Assessment framework, we are focusing on compliance, transparency, efficiency and results,” says Palani.
Across the country, councils have constituted Constituency Development Committees in line with the new guidelines.
Government officials and governance experts believe involving multiple stakeholders in project selection and monitoring could help restore public confidence in the management of the fund.
An Afrobarometer survey conducted in 2024 found that 91 percent of Malawians wanted decisions on CDF utilisation to be made through constituency committees involving multiple stakeholders.
Executive Director of the National Initiative for Civic Education Trust, Gray Kalindekafe, has described the K5 billion allocation as a bold opportunity to transform rural communities.
In a recent article, Kalindekafe said the reform could help dismantle years of centralised development and bring meaningful change directly to villages.
“Picture the ripple effect: rural bridges connecting farmers to bustling markets, solar-powered schools illuminating futures once dimmed by poverty,” he wrote.
However, he also warned that weak oversight could fuel corruption, inflated project costs and incomplete developments.
“Safeguards are imperative: real-time digital dashboards tracking every kwacha, quarterly independent audits by the Auditor General with public reports and community scorecards enabling villagers to rate projects,” he observed.
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Ben Phiri has since challenged councils to demonstrate their capacity to effectively utilise the funds.
“Absorption of the funds is what worries me,” Phiri said during a recent engagement with stakeholders in Ntchisi.
“Show me your vision and I will show you the direction. You need to have plans well formulated right from village to constituency level.”
Phiri also warned councils against corruption and abuse of resources.
“I have no mercy where corruption is concerned,” he cautioned. “Once you are implicated in corrupt practices involving CDF, there will be no transfers. You pack up and go.”
Secretary for Local Government and Rural Development Moses Chimphepo said councils previously struggled because of inadequate funding.
“This time we have the resources and if we fail, it will be our own fault,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Local Government Finance Committee has warned councils that failure to properly account for funds could result in suspension of future disbursements.
“Government will ensure the funds are prudently and accountably managed because strategies have been put in place to monitor implementation of projects,” Board Chairperson Richard Chapweteka recently told officials in Ntchisi.
Back in Kaluluma, Zikono says communities are tired of promises and simply want to see meaningful change.
“If this money is used properly, our children can finally have clean water and better sanitation,” he says.
And in Kapichira, Makamo shares the same hope.
“We do not want development to remain on paper,” she says. “We want roads and ambulances.”
As government tightens accountability systems and councils prepare for implementation, the reformed CDF presents one of the biggest opportunities yet to reshape local development in Malawi.
For communities that have waited decades for better roads, clean water, schools and health facilities, the coming years may determine whether the promise of decentralisation finally becomes a reality.