Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda has conceded that funding delays are choking operations of local councils and stated that central government is working to resolve the persistent problem.
In his remarks during the opening of the Local Government Authorities Annual General Assembly in Mangochi yesterday, the minister attributed the challenge to Treasury delays and late submission of reconciliations by councils.
Said Chimwendo Banda: “We have looked at issues that affected us and caused late disbursement of funds.
“We had to improve from the Treasury’s perspective to ensure that councils receive funding on time and that reconciliations happen in good time.”
He also blamed poor financial management by some councils, particularly their failure to reconcile accounts, a key requirement for releasing the next tranche of funding.
But Chimwendo Banda admitted that despite the issues, more challenges are at central government level and this is why councils that meet the reconciliation requirement also face funding drought.
His acknowledgement followed a persistent cry-for-help from the Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) for central government to adequately and timely fund councils.
Last month, in a report for the fourth quarter of the 2024-2025 financial year titled ‘The long wait for meaningful fiscal devolution continues’, Malga revealed the funding gap of at least K15 billion.
Local government authorities were expected to receive K141 billion but by this quarter only K126 billion was released. According to the report, this affected service delivery including procurement of drugs in public hospitals.
Funding to councils remain a bone of contention between local authorities and the central government which they accuse of lack of political will to fully empower councils financially in line with the decentralisation policy.
This year’s conference theme, ‘Taking stock of the fiscal devolution progress as a catalyst for meaningful fiscal decentralisation’ appears to be some deliberate advocacy targeting central government.
Beyond ensuring that councils receive timely funding, the minister also said the government is working to build capacity in local government.
In her remarks, Malga president Esther Sagawa warned that the shortfalls are severely undermining essential services such as health.
She described government’s commitment to resolving the issue as positive news.
Malaga executive director Hadrod Mkandawire is on record to have raised concern over persistent delays to disburse funding to councils.
The conference is expected to wind up today.
