By Linda Likomwa

Phalombe, October 11, Mana: Phalombe District Council has introduced the harmonized e-payment system for Social Protection Programme.

Speaking during a Full Council Meeting on Thursday at Phalombe Teachers Training College (TTC) Ministry of Gender, Disability and Social Welfare, Chief Social Welfare Officer Chifundo Namchikwa said the system has more benefits compared to manual payment.

"The system is timeless and convenient as all beneficiaries would be receiving their money at once. We will also reduce delivery cost and increase efficiency and transparency among others," she said.

Nachikwa said manual payment had challenges which included failure to pay beneficiaries in time during disasters as some roads would become impassable and council works get paralyzed during payment time as all vehicles are in use for the programme.

Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) official Ellen Mpira during her presentation said the e-payment system is timeless and beneficiaries are assured of the security of their money.

“Cashing out is easy as Mpamba agents are everywhere. This payment system also promotes saving and it is also easy to track how the money has been used,” said Mpira.

She added that all beneficiaries would be serviced on time because they would assess to find out areas that have few agents to add more.

Currently, the district has 1,964 Mpamba agents with 131 super agents and one shop at the boma.

The e-payment system started in 2013 with Balaka and Ntcheu and some districts were enrolled in 2022 with the rest of the districts being enrolled this year except Ntchisi and Nkhatabay which would be enrolled next year 2025.

Phalombe District has 11, 099 beneficiary households on SCT.