By Wongani Mkandawire

Nkhotakota, January 21, Mana: District Commissioner (DC) for Nkhotakota District Council Ben Matengeni Tohno says a good working relationship between the council, political leadership and development partners is crucial for development sustainability.

He made the remarks on Monday in Blantyre during a budget review meeting that National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) is conducting with all Local councils in the country as they finalise the 2025-2026 financial year budget.

"The good working relationships that we maintain with our development partners like the government of Iceland that is investing in infrastructure development of education and health facilities, and other Non-governmental organisations that support us and the good guidance from the political leadership creates a conducive environment for development to thrive," said Tohno.

He indicated that the district has done quite well on its programmed projects in the ending 2024-2025 financial budget saying the council has implemented a good number of the projects with shortfall coming in due to logistical challenges such as delay in funding disbursements from the government that affected other activities in the district.

"We are carrying out flagship projects like the renovation of Sitima inn into a 2-star hotel to boost the council's local revenue and make sure more funds are raised to fulfil council plans as outlined in our district development plan," said Tohno.

Speaking on behalf of the Executive Director for NLGFC, Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) project coordinator, Charles Chunga commended Nkhotakota District Council for its thorough budget preparation and encouraged timely attention to the feedback given on the budget.

Nkhotakota District Council's total budget is K14.9 billion, including a K10.4 billion development budget, K510 million for Local revenue, and K4 billion for Other recurrent transactions (ORT).