By Memory Kutengule Chatonda

Blantyre, June 5, Mana: Blantyre District Council has qualified for the 2023 performance-based grant under the World Bank funded, Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) amounting to K403 million to implement various infrastructural projects in the district.

Speaking during the dissemination meeting of 2023 Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) results for Blantyre on Tuesday, Urban Development Specialist for National Local Government Finance Committee, Joy Pankomera, commended Blantyre District Council for performing well during the last year's performance assessment that has enabled the council to qualify for the grant.

“Honestly, I am impressed with the performance because if we look back, in 2020, the district scored 47 percent, in 2021, it scored 63 percent, and in 2022 the district scored 60 percent. For the previous LAPA of 2023, the council has scored 73 percent,” he said.

Pankomera said the trajectory was positive such that the NLGFC was hopeful that Blantyre will continue improving.

“The good news is; Blantyre has always been on average or above average. So we are very optimistic that the district is moving, and what is important now is that they should keep improving their results,” he added.

He advised the council to continue doing its job efficiently and diligently in the interest of the public it serves.

“The council should do its job well and rightly, and submit the monthly reports on time and in the right manner. The same should also apply to other sectors, including procurement, where the council officials need to follow all procurement procedures," he said.

District Commissioner (DC) for Blantyre, Alex Mdooko, described the meeting as insightful, saying it looked at a case-by-case situation about the trends achieved by the council since LAPA started.

“Blantyre District initially missed the GESD grant for two consecutive years and this was very painful as the council lost much in those two consecutive years meaning that the people we serve lost as well. This money was meant to support implementation of various development projects.

“Starting getting the grant for two years and with just one GESD funding cycle remaining, the council will work hard to improve on the rankings so that next time, we get good sums of money. For us to do this, we need to learn from the past, understand the present and plan for the future,” said Mdooko.

Performance-based grants are an additional source of funding that supplements the traditional funding mechanisms of local authorities to carry out various development projects.

Councils qualify for the grant based on their performance during the annual LAPA assessment.