MJ council meeting adjourns over poor reporting

Mulanje District Council chairperson Manuel Bambala on Tuesday suspended a full council meeting due to what members described as poor and unprofessional reporting by the house’s service committees.

The adjournment came a few minutes after Bambala was re-elected chairperson of the council.

There were murmurs when Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee chairperson, councillor Lydia Kathumba, stood to report her committee’s progress on the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp).

Members said the report was not clear and Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Kondwani Nankhumwa criticised what he called ‘unprofessionalism of the report’.

“This report only reveals the lack of seriousness in our service committees when they meet to discuss how to improve government services in the district,” said the Minister, adding that with such kind of reporting, service committees cannot deliver.

Member of Parliament(MP) for Mulanje Bale Victor Musowa also described the report as ‘childish and lacking’.

He said: “We were supposed to be given copies of this report prior to this meeting so that we appreciate the contents to seek clarification and make recommendations. I do not have a copy of the report. This is absurd.”

While adjourning the discussion to a date yet to be set, Bambala accused the Agriculture and Natural Resources Service Committee for repeating the mistake despite being cautioned.

A total of five reports were scheduled to be presented during the meeting, but were all postponed to a date to be announced. n