World Bank team in to assess council projects

A World Bank mission has arrived in the country to review implementation of the K90 billion Governance to Enable Service Delivery (Gesd) project.

The five-year project seeks to strengthen institutional capacity and performance in 24 councils in the country.

In an interview yesterday, National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) acting executive director Kondwani Santhe said the World Bank review mission will assess its overall implementation.

He said: “The mission will review implementation status, achievements made so far, any challenges, financial management, audits, governance and accountability, among others.”

Santhe said the World Bank mission is also expected to discuss key project objectives and achievements made so that it enhances the milestones and find solutions to any challenges encountered.

All district councils except Nkhotakota, Mchinji, Blantyre and Thyolo qualified for the 2021/22 Gesd project, according to Santhe. He said districts that qualified are currently implementing 146 various projects.

To qualify, councils have to meet minimum access conditions (MACs), performance measures (PMs) and trigger conditions through a performance-based grant.

Santhe said the project has so far disbursed $5.7 million (K4.5 billion) for the projects which include eight on agriculture, seven on police structures, 19 on markets, nine on youth structures, 19 on rural roads and bridges, four on water, sanitation and hygiene, 45 on health structures and 35 on educational structures.

Rumphi district commissioner Emmanuel Bulukutu yesterday said funds from the project have enabled the council to implement long-stalled projects and new district development plans (DDP) in a systematic and rational manner.

“On top of that, Gesd project is not only a development enhancement tool, it is also a consolidated approach for citizen engagement which ensures satisfaction and ownership of the projects,” he said.

Vice-President Saulos Chilima presided over the launch of the Gesd project in April 2021 and warned local authorities not to relax for the sake of the project.