Ntchisi council grilled over transparency, accountability

A National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust meeting in Ntchisi on Friday revealed that lack of transparency and accountability are affecting the running of Ntchisi District Council.

Nice Trust, with financial support from European Union (EU), invited duty-bearers, traditional leaders and residents to discuss problems that led the district to score 42 percent on service delivery on Local Governance Barometer (LGB) and find solutions to the district’s development challenges.

Apart from the district scoring badly, the LGB results, which were informed by inputs from politicians, government officials, area development committee (ADC) members, traditional authorities (T/As), civil society organisations and the business community, reflected a probable  true situation on the ground.

Speaking during the meeting, T/A Vuso Jere said the district will not develop unless some council officials are transferred.

“We have uncompleted buildings in our areas which started a long time ago but they cannot be completed because money was siphoned. This is a clear testimony that we can’t go anywhere,” he said.

Senior Chief Kasakula said the district was lucky to have scored 42 percent on LGB. n