High vacancy rate stalls councils’ work—ministry

Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture says there is a high vacancy rate in the country’s councils which is affecting operations of the local authorities.

The ministry’s chief economist Flemmings Nyirenda said this in Kasungu on Thursday during the dissemination of Local Authority Performance Assessment results which are used to determine amounts recipients of performance-based grants get.

He said there is a 48 percent vacancy rate in the local authorities, on average, and even higher in some councils.

Said Nyirenda: “Government is trying its best to recruit staff to be deployed in the councils.

“We have already done recruitments of procurement officers, accountants, administrative officers and also in health and education to bridge the gaps concerning capacity issues.”

According to the assessment, Mulanje District Council has been ranked the best while Zomba, Balaka and Machinga will not receive the grants for failing to reach the minimum access conditions.

Kasungu district commissioner James Kanyangalazi hailed the dissemination of the results, saying it gives the specific council sectors the opportunity to appreciate their contribution to the overall ranking.

“We did not do well in some areas where we did better last time. We have learnt the mistakes that were made and we will do better next time. The good thing is that there was no misappropriation of money,” he said.

Kanyangalazi said they did not do well in financial recordkeeping and in education and health.

Kasungu Civil Society Network chairperson Braxton Banda said the council’s slump in rankings from fourth in 2020 to 12th  this year is a red flag requiring attention. Ranked number 12 out of the country’s 28 councils, Kasungu will receive about a K1.1 billion in performance-based grant.