Minister demands efficiency from councils

Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda has demanded efficiency from council officials and warned controlling officers that they risk being fired if they abuse resources and fail to perform.

The minister issued the warning yesterday in his opening address at a two-day quarterly coordination meeting for councils from the Southern Region underway in Blantyre.

He said it is appalling that abuse of resources continues to be rampant, leading to some councils failing to access development grants under the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (Gesd) project for more than two consecutive periods.

Gesd is a five-year $100 million (about K104 billion) World Bank-funded project facilitated by the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) which aims at strengthening the capacity for local councils.

Councils access grants through the project’s funds to implement various development projects if their performance is satisfactory.

However, some councils have been failing to access the grants due to underperformance, including abuse of resources which the minister yesterday said continues depriving poor people access to quality services.

He said: “This year, three councils are not receiving the Gesd funds and this is more than K2 billion going to the rural people, the people that are poor, just because there was abuse or mismanagement of resources or indeed underperformance or poor performance by these councils.”

Chimwendo Banda said relocating controlling officers that have failed at a particular council does not yield any positive results, as such, dismissing them in accordance with the law is the only effective way.

Chimwendo Banda said the government wants councils to operate efficiently to the benefit of citizens under their jurisdiction.

W h i l e a l l a y i n g perceptions of political interference as one of the factors leading to abuse of resources and underperformance in councils, the minister said controlling officers have legal authority which surpasses political authority.

Chimwendo Banda’s warning comes amid numerous reports submitted to his ministry indicating funds mismanagement as well as a recommendation from Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that errant controlling officers should be fired.

When The Nation asked him if he will act based on PAC’s recommendation as well as reports submitted on public funds abuse in councils, he remained elusive.

Said Chimwendo Banda: “The point is that we will not tolerate abuse of public funds in the councils because this is depriving citizens their right to access quality services.”

But the minister said it would be important for PAC to conduct current audits of councils for the government to act on instead of focusing on five-year periods.

I n a s e p a r a t e interview, Malawi Local Government Association executive director Hadrod Mkandawire described as a regrettable development, the continued failure by councils to access Gesd funds due to mismanagement o f r e s o u r c e s a n d underperformance.

He said this is resulting in disenfranchising poor people who are supposed to access quality public services.

Said Mkandawire: “But sometimes there are a number of factors beyond the controlling officers that cannot be attributed to them.”

Abuse of resources c o m p o u n d e d b y underperformance in councils has been a setback in recent years whereby development projects have stalled.