By Blackson Mkupatira

Chiradzulu, September 14, Mana: Chief Account for Chiradzulu District Council, Henderson M'mangeni says the council has recorded a 62 percent rise in revenue collection in the first five months of the current financial year compared to same period last year.  

Speaking when he presented the council’s financial management report during a sector management meeting on Friday, M'mangeni said the total local revenue collected from April to August this year amounted to MK73 million which is an improvement from same period last year when revenue collection stood at MK45 million.  

He said revenue from market facilities and other district level commercial ventures rose by 9 percent while fees and service charges have seen a 4 percent increase while revenue generated from licenses and permits has increased by 65 percent.

M'mangeni attributed the increase to several initiatives the council was implementing, including efforts to deal with revenue pilferage through the council's internal audit.

“The council has also expanded its revenue base by introducing fees for previously untapped sources such as business licenses for building contractors, as well as enforcing licensing regulations more efficiently and raising various fees,” added the chief accountant.

He said that infrastructure improvements such as construction of market sheds and sanitary facilities like toilets in some markets, supported by the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) and District Development Fund (DDF), have also contributed in enhancing the council’s revenue performance.

“However, challenges remain. We have low revenue collections, especially from Nguludi plots as well as from markets like Thomasi and Yasini where vendors boycott paying market fees due to poor sanitary infrastructure and other facilities,” he explained and further appealed to all sectors at Thyolo District Council to work together in addressing challenges that affect revenue generation.

Chiradzulu District Council, Director of Planning and Development (DPD), Henderson Kaumi, expressed satisfaction with the increase in revenue collection, describing it as good news.

“It is always important to have a solid revenue base for smooth operations of the office and this includes being able to pay staff salary on time leading to improvement in service delivery to the general public,” he said.

On lack of sanitary infrastructure in markets, the DPD stated that the council is implementing projects that aim at addressing some of the issues within the current financial year.

In the 2024/2025 financial year, Chiradzulu District Council targeted to collect MK171, 803,500.00. So far MK72, 694,773.00 has been collected representing 42 percent of the budget.