By Brian Wasili

Mwanza, April 27, Mana: Mwanza District Commissioner, Dr Martha Magreta Sineta has urged the council’s staff to start focusing on performance and service delivery rather than personal benefits, calling for a shift from allowance-driven participation to performance-based engagement.

Sineta was speaking at the end of the budget review meeting on Friday whose objective was to analyze how Mwanza District Council utilized public resources from the April 2024 to March 2025 financial year.

The meeting also discussed successes and challenges encountered in the period under review and brainstormed strategies to deal with challenges in the current financial year.

“Let us not be allowance-oriented when performing our duties. Our priority must be the people we serve and the results we deliver.

“We must reflect on how we used the resources entrusted to us by the people of Mwanza and we should also think about what to plan for the future,” added the District Commissioner.

Sineta commended participants at the review meeting for contributing constructively and for submitting elaborative departmental reports that reflected realities on the ground and service gaps.

Director of Finance at Mwanza District Council, Arthur Malemia presented a financial report which outlined achievements and shortfalls across departments and commended council staff for their commitment.

“Good financial expenditure has been registered across all sectors and the implementation of key projects such as the construction of physical infrastructures like school blocks, bridges and market sheds.

“Other interventions that registered good financial expenditure include; the Investing in Early Years Programme, Climate Smart- Enhanced Public Works Programme and Social Cash Transfer Programme,” he added.

The Director also pointed out that the introduction of border entry fees and the rolling out of electronic ticketing promoted efficiency in market fee collection, saying this helped to boost local revenue for the council.

He however noted that an increase in prices of goods and services on the market affected the budget line of some activities, adding that delays in completing projects and compromising standards of some projects by contractors were some of the challenges the council encountered in the implementation of the just ended financial year.

Most participants at the review meeting noted that delays in the procurement processes were common in most sectors, complaining that this affected the timely implementation of some activities.

Responding to the concern, Malemia attributed the delays in the procurement processes to the late submission of requests to his office by sectors and a limited number of staff in the procurement office, among other reasons.

“Moving forward, we need proper planning, timely submission of the requests and presentation of detailed activity report.

“Further to this, there is a need for better coordination among departments to avoid duplication and there is also a need for sectors to stick to financial discipline apart from making follow-ups on funding disbursements,” he added.

The budget under review was pegged at K10 billion and it included council staff salaries, a general resource fund, a sector fund, a constituency development fund and, local revenue among others.

Mwanza Council directors, heads of departments, accounts personnel and front-line workers were some of the people who attended the finance management review meeting.