Lilongwe City MPs and Councillors lack orientation, understanding

Lilongwe City residents have called on the Ministry of Local Government to conduct a thorough orientation of its Capital City Members of Parliament and ward councillors to differentiate between management and policy issues saying the Capital City programmes and policies are in shambles due to the confusion at the Civic Centre.

Alexander Matope an Area 47 resident says councillors think that they are in control of management of the City Council where they can control and change existing programmes which management is implementing with funding from several donors had already approved.

“I read with sadness the shame that is coming with lack of orientation to these councillors and MPs. They are moving to become Financial Controllers and accountants this will in turn demoralise the management and staff of the council,” said Matope.

Another Area 23 resident Mercy Litata said Councillors have disappeared soon after winning the elections last May.

“I wonder who they represent. They don’t come to ask us our development views, what they promised us has turned out to be different. I think Government must teach the  what they need to do without climbing to become some sort of directors at the Council,” said Litata.

But it is not only the Councillors that are at fault, Members of Parliament representing people in the City may benefit from the orientation if government take heed.

“Some of our Members of Parliament are novices in the august house and in the council. They may be learned in other areas, but in local development they have a wide gap to fill with knowledge,  they need a lot of orientation and knowledge building,” said a resident of Area 18, Chisomo Ndawala.

Lilongwe City Council management have on several occasions complained that the Councillors and MPs were bringing confusion by meddling into day to day running of the council including finacial decisions already discussed and signed with donors.

“We have problems with them, they lack basic understanding even on basic things and procedures. We need to ask the Local Government ministry again to re-orient them,” said one of the Council’s Directors who did not want to be named.

Several councillors Nyasa Times spoke to conceeded that proper orientation was very vital but indicated their job is to ask for development.

“Development needs money and if we see that money is being used for other uses such as study tours to learn how we can implement new project, that is understood because donors like the World Bank funded for a good course. I know other fellow MPs and Councillors don’t understand things like these,” said a Councillor also on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile some councillors have complained that the Council is still not updated them yet on several project plans within the City.