How political influence and data tampering plague Mufulira’s CDF
By Kennedy Mbewe
The investigation revealed that Road Range Driving School in Mufulira operates from premises owned by Maina Soko Ward Councilor Garry Kawayo, raising suspicions of collusion. Kawayo denied involvement in student selection, insisting he was merely renting out property as part of his private business.
In our earlier report, we exposed how two driving schools in Mufulira—Libati and Road Range—took in more than 540 of the 589 students enrolled under the 2025 CDF driving bursary. The imbalance sparked concerns of favouritism, political interference, and possible corruption.
It is also alleged that Kawayo occasionally serves as an instructor for the driving school—an accusation he denied.
“I’m a businessman. I own shops, and behind those shops there is a garage and a warehouse that belongs to my father, which Road Range is renting,” he explained.
MakanDay visited Mufulira and interviewed a local driving school owner who described how some officials allegedly solicit kickbacks linked to the CDF skills training programme.
He said when the CDF skills component began, several councillors, WDC members, and constituency chairpersons approached him proposing that they channel students to his school in exchange for payments. He said they even suggested he pays them in advance before they delivered the students. He refused, warning that such an arrangement would be corrupt and could lead to arrests and jail terms.
He said that after he refused, his school was sidelined from receiving CDF-sponsored skills students.
“In 2022-23 I wrote to then Minister of Local Government, Garry Nkombo, to report what was happening in Mufulira regarding the CDF bursary for skills training,” he said.
The source added that CDF disbursements for skills in Mufulira were temporarily suspended to address the issues he raised, though he could not recall for how many months the suspension lasted. A meeting was reportedly held, and council officials promised to correct the problems—but he said nothing changed.
When contacted, Mufulira Council officials referred MakanDay to the Public Relations Unit. In a written response, Public Relations Manager Thandiwe Tembo said that student allocations to driving schools were based on applications received through WDCs, in line with the 2022 CDF guidelines, which set no limit on enrolments. She added that the council had received no formal or informal complaints and urged the public to report any concerns.
However, the owner of a local driving school, who had earlier raised concerns, rejected Tembo’s explanation. He said he disagreed with Madam Thandi’s claims, insisting that the selection process was biased. While he acknowledged that the council relies on submitted lists, he argued that the real issue lies at the ward level, where Ward Development Committees allegedly collude with councilors to alter application forms.
“Unlike in rural councils where chiefs’ representatives are involved and the process is fair, CDF skills selection in Mufulira has not been transparent,” he said.
Libati Driving School Principal and owner, Mulemwa Njamba, and Trust Malambo, Director of Road Range Driving School, denied having any links to the ruling party. Both said that their institutions are accredited by the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA), a requirement for eligibility under the CDF skills training programme.
“I had more students last year than this year. I’m not affiliated with the UPND — I’m just an ordinary person,” said Njamba.
Malambo added: “I don’t belong to any political party. I’m simply a businessman running a training institute. We did our groundwork early, which helped us attract that number of students. In fact, some schools have enrolled even more students than we have,” he said, though he did not name the schools.
When asked why the Road Range Mufulira branch is operating from property owned by Councillor Kawayo, Malambo said: “I pay rent and have a tenancy agreement. I have no dealings with the councillor.”
The government considers the CDF a vital tool for delivering resources directly to communities. It comprises three key components – community projects, youth, women, and community empowerment and secondary boarding school and skills development bursaries.
In addition to driving, the CDF skills bursary programme supports a wide range of vocational and technical courses, including engineering, agriculture, fashion and design, construction trades, heavy equipment operation, and health-related technologies.
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, which oversees CDF projects, has yet to respond to MakanDay’s repeated requests for comment, despite follow-ups that included office visits.
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