Chilima courts local councils on reforms
After months of relentlessly engaging ministries and parastatal organisations on public sector reforms, Vice President Saulous Chilima has now turned the reforms drive to local councils to improve service delivery.
Chilima on Monday met officials from Kasungu Municipal, Kasungu District Council, Nkhotakota District Council, Salima District Council and Mchinji District Council.
” As the administration of His Excellency Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, implements the Public Sector Reforms agenda – it is important that district councils and municipal councils are at the centre of the Reforms initiative to ensure smooth collaboration and coordination between the local and the central government”, the Veep wrote on his Facebook page.
He said engaging local councils on the Reforms will help to reposition and prepare them to effectively and efficiently execute the provision of service delivery to the people of Malawi.
” Reforming local councils means capacitating them to properly carry out their mandates that include making decisions on local governance and development at district level; promoting infrastructure development and consolidating local democratic participation”.
Chilima said apart from receiving updates on the progress of previous reform areas and outlining new reforms, the meetings are also aimed to help the councils do away with rigidities so as to make them effective, efficient and professional.
He said, for instance, the councils have exciting plans for revenue generation, which if prioritised, could move them from over dependency on central government to self sustainability.
“We expect the councils to identify areas that will drive their financial sustainability and improve service delivery with the aim of improving livelihoods of Malawians. These reform areas touch on promotion of tourism, innovations in revenue collection systems and expanding revenue base,” he said.
The Veep says the goal of the Tonse government is to establish secondary cities that would have village industries, processing plants and organized markets, a concept that President Chakwera has tasked the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms and Ministry of Local Government to implement with urgency.
Chilima has singled out tourism as one area the councils should prioritise for revenue generation, citing Nkhotakota which has seven lakes and a game reserve which if promoted would create opportunities for expansion into water transport and sustainable fishing.
” What the councils have in common is poor local revenue collection and yet they are able to identify areas for improving revenue generation. The councils know what needs to be done but the plans on paper must be reflected in healthy coffers and improved service delivery,” he says.
The veep says government expect the councils to resubmit the reports with tangible deliverables clearly indicated, not just activities.
Chilima has won praise for driving the reforms agenda, which started gathering dust after he was unceremoniously removed from championing them during the DPP regime at a time the reforms had started bearing fruits.
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This reforms exercise is of top-down approach such that the critical stakeholders- the constituency ADs and VDs committee members are not included in the engagements. Those engaged are usually the culprits who are engaged in shady deals- the MPs, Councillors, council staff, the DCs and et al. Since the introduction of CDFs and LDFs to be controlled by MPs and Councillors respectively, we have seen substandard work delivered against exhorbitant costs. Let’s go back to the system of the Kamuzu time when we really saw real development at ward level.
Chilima here is doing what we call – ‘Jumping the Gun’. He is basically overstepping his boundaries or doing someone’s job. There’s a story whereby a Chief Executive used to say, “I want to see all the files on my desk everyday”. His office overlooked a golf course and one particular afternoon he saw all the department heads playing golf and yet his desk had a piles of files all over. In anger he summoned them to ask why they were playing golf during working hours. Their response was simple and straight forward – “Sir, the job we were supposed… Read more »
What cadets used to do to praise APM is exactly what Tonse alliance, especially UTM, sycophants are doing praising Chilima even when he breaks the wind. I don’t hear much about activities in his Ministry apart from reforms. Is he reforming his Ministry? Has anyone heard about reforms in his Ministry or these reforms program apply to other MDAs only? Does he still remember promising one million jobs, duty free week, free water and electricity connections, unrenewable driving license, cheap passport fee, kudya katatu osafinyika? What’s the composition of staff in his office? Check and you will be surprised.
Eish, absolute nonsese! Atleast show respect where its due. This lad is trting so hard, results will show soon, 100 days isnt enough, that benchmark is for setting the tone, hence signaling intent and what is to come.
After 3 years you will say 3 years is not enough. What exactly constitutes enough, and when is enough enough?
Dont let the bitterness of being in opposition cloud your sense of goodwill.
Chief executives and District Commissioners belong to the class of demigods they are kingpins at suppressing physical development activities in the rural areas as they continuously siphon funds from the monthly funding. Reforms should go to the soul of protecting the district coffers the vultures tends to untouchable moreover the Accountant General reports tend to touch these vampires’ dark acts after a year when all the interest in the thieving is cold and stale. District councils have been producing instant millionaires, officers who were grinding in abject poverty are instantly hiring personal contractors. Malawians are holding burning sticks while coughing… Read more »
The cleaning excercise has commenced, you don’t have to chase them out by terminating their contracts, they will walk away smiling with a valid excuse of unfair dismissal. No, let the stick around and make there work and life so hard by closing all the taps and in the process obtaining enough evidence to take them to court and succeed. They will run at will!
This dude puts in some shift! Way to go Mr VP, keep the fire. Do not tire until the reforms permeate and are galvanised throughout the public service! Devolution has numerous pros and if these councils can put their act together, the districts will graduate up the ladder in-terms of development soonest. Recently the World Bank announced some US100 million to be pumped into these councils to enhance governance and capacity building. What a timely boost and this will have an immediate impact on the activities of the councils!!! We just have to work hard if we aspire to fulfil… Read more »
SKC My Man
Chilima is taking Malawi to another level.Big up bwana
SKC would have started with the councils as they are full bodied as opposed to the parastatals whose boards have just been appointed. Nonetheless, let’s ensure all bodies work to ensure that Malawi is a better place to be and good for the generations to come.