By Salome Gangire

Neno, March 21, Mana: Neno District Council Chairperson, Joseph Chiphaliwali has described a learning visit to Dowa District Council as an eye-opener, commending Dowa for its effective revenue collection strategies beyond government subventions.

Chiphaliwali made the remarks on Thursday during the visit, which aimed to enhance Neno’s service delivery under the Demand Driven Performance Improvement Plans (DD-PIPs) initiative.

"Dowa is implementing several innovative initiatives to boost local revenue, including through agricultural cooperatives and associations, farmers clubs and a council-owned 6 hectare farm. We need to emulate this approach rather than relying solely on traditional revenue sources like market fees," he said.

He added that Dowa District Council has successfully used locally generated funds to procure assets, such as 11 motorcycles, 55 pairs of protective gears for its agricultural extension workers; an achievement that underscores the importance of revenue diversification amid insufficient government subventions.

Chiphaliwali further emphasized that Neno District Council was particularly interested in learning from Dowa’s strong performance in local governance and development, as reflected in its first-place ranking in the 2023/24  Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA).

"This exchange visit is expected to enhance Neno’s operational efficiency and governance, fostering improved service delivery based on lessons learned from Dowa," he said.

Dowa District Council Chairperson, Councillor Gift Nkhono Songeya, attributed their success to strong collaboration among council secretariat, elective members such as  Members of Parliament, councilors, traditional leaders and interest group.

"For a council to perform well, there must be a good working relationship between all stakeholders. Additionally, supervision at every stage of project implementation is crucial to ensuring quality infrastructure. Some contractors compromise quality when unsupervised, but in Dowa, we prioritize strict oversight, which has resulted in better infrastructure," Nkhono said.

He also advised fellow councillors to prioritize impactful flagship projects rather than focusing on small, scattered developments that may not bring significant change.

Deputy Director of Local Government Services, Janet Machinjiri, commended Dowa District Council for hosting Neno and urged the visiting delegation to implement the best practices observed.

"Dowa has been performing well in several areas, and I encourage Neno District Council to apply the knowledge gained here to improve service delivery," she said.

The learning visit aimed to expose Neno officials to best practices in revenue collection, project implementation, procurement, and council management, particularly in the implementation of the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) and District Development Fund (DDF) projects.