3 districts, Eastern Region yet to be gazzetted

 Two decades after being declared local government areas, Phalombe, Neno and Likoma districts and the Eastern Region are yet to be gazetted in line with the Regional and District Boundaries and Place Names Act of 1967.

The revelation means Phalombe, which was split from Mulanje in June 1998 Likoma, which was declared a district in November 1999 and Neno delinked from Mwanza in 2003 are all technically illegal districts. The three districts were declared by former president Bakili Muluzi

In an interview on Monday, Minister of Local Government Blessings Chinsinga admitted the anomaly, saying it was part of the “the broken systems” that the governing Tonse Alliance inherited and are yet to be fixed.

He said previously decisions were being made haphazardly without a proper plan.

Said the minister: “If you are not gazetted, it means you don’t exist by law. Therefore, chances are high that the activities of these districts might be challenged. By not being gazetted, it means that they do not exist because that is what the law says.”

University of Malawi law professor Garton Kamchedzera says it is clear that according to law, the three districts and region do not exist.

He further said actions on such issues as by-laws, collection of revenue and fees implemented by the three districts can be challenged in court as they are illegal.

Kamchedzer a said: “These so-called districts are only acting as local government areas under the Local Government Act [LGA] for purposes of service delivery and not as districts.

“Section 2 of the Act talks about regional and district divisions of the country. The Act doesn’t have these three districts.

“Section 3 gives power to the President to amend the schedule for districts or regions and also to amend specifications of boundaries and may publish in the gazette when the alternation is made. However, when read with Section 2, the conclusion is that it wouldn’t be prudent just to declare and not amend the schedule.”

He said the three local government areas were declared ‘districts’ through whim and convenience, therefore, do not exist in Malawi, according to the law.

Malawi Local Government Association executive director Hadrod Mkandawire said the revelations show that someone has been sleeping on the  job and the illegality, if confirmed, may create some challenges.

He said: “I urge the government to speed up the process of gazetting, because it means someone, somewhere is not doing his or her job correctly. This issue is urgent and must be handled very swiftly. There is no excuse why the districts should not be gazetted.”

Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo on Monday said his office will await instructions from the Ministry of Local Government to act on the matter, saying they are only a service provider.

Section 2 of the Regional and Districts Act says Malawi shall be divided into regions and districts.

Section 3 reads: “The President may, from time to time, as he thinks convenient or expedient for the purposes of administration, amend any or all of the divisions of Malawi provided for under Section 2, varying the number of divisions, altering the boundaries and the names thereof or providing new names, and for this purpose may, by Order published in the Gazette, amend the First Schedule.”