Councillors, who gets K120 000 per month, demand hike from government
Councilors in the country are demanding a hike in their honoraria to meet the escaping cost of living.
Councillors get K120,000 a month as their honoraria.
District Commissioner for M’mbelwa Rodney Simwaka, speaking on behalf of Malawi Local Government Association (Malga), urged the government to seriously consider increasing the monthly honorarium for ward councilors which he says, has been stagnant for over three years.
He said this on Tuesday during pre-budget consultative meetings in Mzuzu.
“Government should also seriously consider the request to waive duty on one motor vehicle to each councilor once in every five years to ease their mobility challenges.
“If we are to strategically reposition the LGAs as key actors in the economic recovery and attainment of Malawi 2063, we need LGAs where council members are motivated to provide meaningful and constructive oversight role to the secretariat,” he said.
On health, Simwaka has also urged government to be providing 50 percent of the drug budget directly to the councils.
It is currently at 10 percent.
“Much as we commend the Government for heeding our call to partly decentralize the drug budget, the 10 percent devolved so far has proved to be very instrumental in improving the health service delivery. However, it has also proved not to be adequate to make meaningful impact.
“We, therefore, recommend a 50 percent devolution of the drug budget.”
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :