By Bishop Witmos
Mangochi, May 23, Mana: Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture, Richard Chimwendo Banda has praised local authorities, particularly district councils, for playing a role in implementing various central and donor funded development projects that satisfy development aspirations of communities.
He made the praise on Thursday during the opening of the 19th Local Government Authorities Annual General Assembly held at Sunbird Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi.
The minister said his ministry was pleased that most local authorities were managing resources efficiently as the central government provides more financial resources for implementation of demand driven projects.
‘‘As a Ministry, it is time for reflecting and taking stock of where we have done well, as well as where we have not, in order to see where we can improve. When we look back, we will see that in 2021, we had very few resources trickling down to the councils, but now, we have quite a number of resources that have gone there.
‘‘One of the contributing factors to this success is the integrity of our local authorities, whereby unlike in the past, we now have 25 councils with clean audits, a development that has brought donor confidence,” he said.
The minister noted that donors are now able to give more resources, adding the ministry was proud of the support from the development partners.
Chinwendo Banda said passing of the 2024 Decentralization Policy which replaces the 1998 Policy is amongst his ministry`s achievements.
He said the new policy will facilitate increased volumes of resources that go into the community and ensure that human resources trickle down to local authorities for effective service delivery.
The minister then asked the local authorities to continue working hard for the betterment of communities they serve.
At the conference, Chimwendo Banda awarded a trophy to Neno District Council for being the best performing council in the just ended financial year, while Blantyre City Council was awarded the best city council for maintaining cleanliness.
Karonga District Commissioner, Rodney Simwaka was awarded with a Minister’s Special Award, for his good leadership, dedication, as well as resilience during his time at Mbelwa District Council.
In her remarks, President of Malawi Local Government Association (MALGA), Mayor of Lilongwe City, Easther Sagawa, commended government for supporting the association, saying MALGA is an important tool in voicing out concerns of local government authorities.
Sagawa said the association registered tremendous achievements for the past years, including influencing policy change for proper functioning of local governing systems.
All the city and municipal chief executive officers, mayors for cities and municipals, district commissioners, as well as council chairpersons attended the 19th General Assembly, organized by the Malawi Local Government Association (MALGA).
Presidents for Botswana Association of Local Authorities, as well as South Africa Local Government Association also attended the Nkopola Sunbird conference.
