Paramount Chief Kawinga has commended National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust for empowering community members to hold duty-bearers to account on governance and service delivery.
He said this on Monday after Nice Trust presented its six-year strategic plan to Machinga district advisory forum and other stakeholders.
Kawinga said, previously, people in the district were afraid of engaging their leaders when they noticed anomalies in service delivery.
“I can say Nice Trust has played a crucial role in championing mindset change among community members in the district. Now people take to task leaders when they are failing in their duties,” he said.
James Mandota from Senior Chief Liwonde said Nice Trust has been instrumental in disseminating information regarding governance issues and other emerging issues, including the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The trust conducts awareness campaigns which enlighten citizens in a number of areas such as governance and public health. We ask Nice to intensify awareness campaigns, especially on the cholera outbreak,” he said.
Machinga district civic education officer Clemence Sendeza said he was optimistic that the 2021-2026 Nice Strategic Plan will help to transform the civic education and governance sector in the district.
“Nice Trust has not adequately addressed issues such as climate change, so the strategic plan seeks to build on the successes of the previous one to address emerging issues in the environment sector,” he said.
