Councillor doubles as a teacher in Lilongwe Msozi: Constituents cry foul

Communities from Lilongwe Msozi North have expressed concern about one of their Ward Councillors, Misheck Khomba Muhanji of Ngala ward who to their dismay has been discovered to be doubling his elective office  and as a  secondary school teacher at Minga CDSS a development which has left him neglecting his duty as a councillor.

The development came to light when the National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) were conducting sensitization meeting with the communities on the role of office bearers at Chibwata in Lilongwe.

According to Group Village Headman Chibwata the communities from Ngala ward were surprised that since the elections they rarely see their councillor who was supposed to be spearheading develoment initiatives in the area.

GVH Chibwata said that they later learnt that Khomba is also a teacher at a Community Day Secondary School in another constituency a development which surprised them.

“We are very surprised that our councillor is a doubling his role as a councillor and a teacher. We need you as NICE to enlighten us if this is in order?” queried Chibwata.

NICE District Civic Education Officer Daniel Malango said it is not in order for the councillor to double as a teacher as this is a clear case of conflict of interest.

“According to the Local Government  Election Act a person who has been elected as a councillor should not hold public office or appointment,” said Malango.

He said the framers of the laws knew that there should be separation of roles when one holds an elective office and that of the public office because one is bound to neglect the other office.

However, Councillor Khomba Muhanji  could neither confirm nor deny the assertions but could only say that there is nothing newsworthy on the issue.

“Don’t you have better issues to write about,” said the audibly furious Khomba in a telephone interview before cutting the line.

According to a fellow teacher from the same school, who spoke on condition of anonymitt confirmed that Khomba is indeed a teacher at the said school and is on government payroll under the Ministry of Education.

Since last year’s tripartite elections there have been a lot of understanding on the roles of councillors and legislators, a development which has led NICE to intesify civic education on the roles of these two duty bearers.