Malawi is edging closer to implementing a 10-year National Decentralisation Strategy designed to transform local councils into empowered institutions capable of delivering services and driving local development.
Validated by stakeholders in Lilongwe yesterday, the draft National Decentralisation Strategy (2026-2036) seeks to operationalise the National Decentralisation Policy launched in 2024 and address longstanding bottlenecks that have slowed decentralisation since its adoption in 1998.
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Ben Phiri said councils now have the capacity to assume greater responsibilities, dismissing long-standing concerns over their readiness.
“More than ever, councils now have no excuse on capacity,” he said.
The minister added that government had recruited directors to fill vacant positions in councils and hired qualified engineers to strengthen technical capacity.
“The mandate has been fully charged, the capacity done to the fullest and we are so ready to execute,” he said.
The strategy identifies incomplete devolution of functions, powers and resources, limited fiscal autonomy, weak institutional coordination, accountability gaps and uneven service delivery as key obstacles.
It further proposes shifting from centrally managed systems to empowered local government authorities (LGAs) with greater responsibility for service delivery, citizen participation and local economic development.
Phiri said councils had demonstrated their ability to manage large-scale projects, citing World Bank-supported Governance to Enable Service Delivery (Gesd 2.0) projects, where councils scored above 90 percent.
He said government was now turning its attention to asset devolution following progress in transferring resources to councils.
“Adoption of decentralisation was in 1998, but devolution of resources has only been registered now. The key component that has remained now is asset devolution,” Phiri said.
He noted that public assets currently held by central government departments are expected to begin transferring to councils within six months after an inventory process is completed.
“Government properties are assets for Malawians. When you don’t take care of them, they remain obsolete. Who loses is not the government, it is the citizens of Malawi,” said the minister.
Phiri added that councils were developing maintenance policies to ensure devolved assets are properly managed to improve council value, staff welfare and service delivery.
European Union Ambassador Daniel Ariste Gaztelumendi said the renewed momentum offered an opportunity to accelerate a reform process that had moved slowly since the late 1990s.
“We see now a new impetus, a new energy going into this process,” he said, adding that the EU was supporting development of the strategy through technical assistance.
The envoy said reforms to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) had increased the urgency of strengthening systems to ensure resources reaching communities are properly managed.
Gaztelumendi said government and its partners should proceed step by step, beginning with finalising the strategy and developing the supporting documents required for implementation.
Speaking on behalf of development partners, Unicef representative Penelope Campbell said the strategy comes at a critical time because fiscal decentralisation is advancing faster than governance reforms.
She added that councils require clear mandates, predictable financing, capable personnel and accountability systems if decentralisation is to improve access to essential services, particularly for children and vulnerable communities.
Meanwhile, Malawi Local Government Association executive director Hadrod Mkandawire welcomed the strategy, describing it as long overdue because a policy requires an implementation framework.
He, however, warned that the strategy alone would not guarantee success.
“The strategy is part of the answer, but not the complete answer. High-level political will is key,” Mkandawire said.
Developed through document reviews, institutional assessments, stakeholder consultations, technical analysis and validation processes, the National Decentralisation Strategy is expected to guide reforms including legal changes, stronger council systems, decentralisation of human resources, improved citizen participation and greater accountability in local governance.
