By Yamikani Yapuwa

Thyolo, November 14, Mana: District Commissioner for Thyolo, Hudson Kuphanga, has expressed frustration over delays by the office of the Attorney General in drafting by-laws submitted by the council, saying the situation is crippling the district’s revenue collection efforts.

Speaking during a visit by the Local Authority and Rural Development Committee of Parliament Thursday, Kuphanga, disclosed that the council is unable to collect over K200 million in tariffs from tea estates because there are no legally binding by-laws to guide the process.

“The tea estates are willing to pay, but they demand a proper legal framework. Unfortunately, the Attorney General’s Office has not yet approved the by-laws we submitted, citing a shortage of legal drafters,” said Kuphanga.

He said the delay has dire consequences, stating that the council owes its direct staff over K100 million in unpaid wages, causing unrest among employees.

“Our staff have resorted to reporting the council to the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions, accusing us of withholding their wages intentionally. Meanwhile, the money we need to address this is sitting in the estates, uncollected,” lamented Kuphanga.

In response, Local Authority and Rural Development Committee Chairperson, Horace Chipuwa, recommended that the council use interim measures to proceed with tariff collection.

“While awaiting for the Attorney General’s Office to draft the by-laws, the council should use the minutes from the Full Council meeting where the by-laws were formulated and passed. This could serve as a temporary measure for collecting the tariffs,” said Chipuwa.

Chipuwa acknowledged that the delay in drafting by-laws is a common issue affecting many councils across the country, calling for urgent intervention to address the bottleneck.

“This is not an isolated problem; it’s a national challenge. We will engage relevant authorities to ensure that the Attorney General’s Office expedites the drafting process so councils can collect revenue and improve service delivery,” he said.

During the tour, the committee visited the newly constructed office complex as well as Mtambanyama Market, a Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) funded project where Chipuwa expressed satisfaction with the quality infrastructure.