Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) has faulted Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture for sidelining councils in the review of district development fund (DDF) guidelines.
Speaking in an interview at the weekend, Malga executive director Hadrod Mkandawire said in as much as the review may have good intentions, failure to consult councils, as implementing agencies, undermines the spirit of decentralisation.
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He said: “This grossly undermines the principles of subsidiarity and territorial approach which underpin the concept of devolution, a type of decentralisation we adopted in this country.”
Mkandawire further alleged that the guidelines were reviewed in total secrecy by a few technocrats with support from a development partner.
“The next thing we heard is the dissemination of the same. It should be noted that this is not the first time this has happened. You might recall that in 2022, the CDF [Constituency Development Fund] guidelines were also revised in camera,” he said.
By press time at 7pm yesterday, Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture spokesperson Anjoya Mwanza was yet to respond to our questionnaire submitted last Thursday.
However, speaking at a dissemination meeting held at Zomba District Council last week, the ministry’s director of policy and planning Walusungu Kayira said the revised guidelines will ensure that projects implemented by local councils are of high quality.
The World Bank, through the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (Gesd) project, funded the review process.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Youth and Society (YAS) executive director Charles Kajoloweka said it is strange that councils were not consulted.
He said given the mandate of local councils as DDF implementing entities and in the spirit of decentralisation, local authorities were supposed to be at the centre of the review.
Said Kajoloweka: “This is strange and awkward that the Central government can assume that it has monopoly over the review of the guidelines.
“The framers were supposed to be informed by experiences of those implementing. One would have also expected consultations with not only local councils but also other development actors at local level including civil society.”
YAS, with support from the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), is working with local councils to strengthen capacity on public finance management under a project known as Action for Integrity.
In 2022, Malga sought a judicial review after Parliament adopted new CDF guidelines and Water Resources Fund which undermined the function of councils. The guidelines were abandoned with the court’s intervention.
This case coincided with a Supreme Court ruling in Kenya which declared CDF illegal and unconstitutional.
