Councils urged to diversify resource mobilisation
National Planning Commission (NPC) director general Thomas Chataghalala Munthali has urged councils to change their mindset and move away from over-dependence on development partners and the central government.
In his address on Wednesday at the Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) 16th Annual General Assembly in Blantyre, he said the major challenge in councils has been resources, both technical and financial.
However, in the address titled ‘Enhancing Own Source Revenue Generation Towards Urbanisation and Industrialisation’, Munthali attributed the challenges to lack of self-sustaining financing mechanisms.
Said Munthali: “Relying on other people is not sustainable, it is dehumanising and degrading. Your plans should have in them at least one sustainable economic activity within your locality and then ask the partners to support you to develop it so that you can sustainably stand on it without looking back at them for support.”
He further called on the central government and development partners to trust the councils and release enough funding to enable them to operate according to expectations.
During the meeting councillors raised a number of issues bordering on low funding from the central government and called for fiscal devolution to enable them to carry out tangible development projects at council level.
The councillors argue that although they contribute about 65 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP), a lot of resources go to the central government which in return gives them only five percent of the revenue.
Outgoing Malga president Wild Ndipo, who is also Blantyre City mayor, said fiscal devolution will enable councils to generate enough revenue from companies in their jurisdiction to enable them to deal with various challenges including urbanisation.
In her remarks, Deputy Minister of Local Government Halima Daud agreed with the councillors, saying currently the financial support they get from the central government is not enough.
She said her ministry is working on finding ways to address challenges such as urban poverty, HIV and cholera by working with relevant stakeholders and ministries.
“The resources provided to the councils are not enough. All of us need to hold hands to solve these challenges by, among others, making available all resources in rural areas so that people do not have to migrate to urban centres,” said Daud.
The assembly, which ends today is being held under the theme ‘Malawi 2063: The Role of Local Authorities in Mobilising Resources and Partnerships for Urbanisation and Industrialisation’.
