Germany releases 3.5m Euro to Malawi for LDF
Germany has released 3.5 million Euro (K1.89 billion) to Malawi for the Local Development Fund (LDF) after Malawi held the long awaited Local Government Elections (LGE.
German Ambassador to Malawi Peter Woeste said in a statement said the finances will help the country in decentralisation process.
Woeste said in a statement that he was delighted that the Joyce Banda administration managed to organise tripartite polls which previous governments failed to do.
“Malawians have voted – and this time for the first time since 2000 for their favourite councillors in their communities. Herewith I would like to express my sincere appreciation of the fact that the government under Joyce Banda has turned its promise into reality and has allowed Malawians to go to the polls in order to strengthen the democratic decentralisation process,” Woeste said.
The German Ambassador said local councillors were important in local governance.
“A healthy local governance environment does not only need a strong, a committed executive. It needs to be balanced by a legislative element, by local councillors – as foreseen in the Constitution of Malawi,” he said.
The Local Development Fund (LDF) has been established by the Government of Malawi as a nationwide, standardised and transparent development financing mechanism for local governments.
German funding has been contributing to the Urban Window of the LDF which concerns the funding of local public infrastructure.
The purpose of the support is to enable Local Authorities to provide sustainable, local infrastructure in urban areas, thereby strengthening local governance and decentralisation in Malawi through the participatory process in the Urban Development Plans.
Germany has been supporting the democratic decentralisation process in Malawi for over 10 years with technical and financial assistance.
The German funding for the LFD, amounting to 11 million Euro (K5.94 billion) in total, was already committed to the Government of Malawi in 2005 but the release of the last tranche of the commitment was bound to the condition to conduct local elections in the country.
Germany has been Malawi’s development partner since independence in 1964.
The German Government also assists Malawi through regional and multilateral development cooperation, as well as in cooperation with non-governmental organisations and churches.
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