By Robert Nayeja

Nsanje, April 30, Mana: Traditional leaders in Nsanje have noted that Members of Parliament in the district often fail to fulfill their campaign promises due to a lack of coordination with community-level development structures.

Traditional Authority Nyachikadza made the remarks on Tuesday at Red Valley Lodge, where the Women’s Legal Resources Centre (WORLEC) and Oxfam engaged traditional and faith leaders in Nsanje in discussions on social accountability and peaceful electoral processes ahead of the September 16 elections.

Nyachikadza said most members of parliament work with political structures once voted thereby ignoring development structures.

“As a result, community involvement in Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects is minimal and there is no transparency,” he added.

He said the development structures are better placed to identify the needs of the people as compared to political structures.

Group Village Head Nyanthumbi from Senior Chief Tengani also observed that some areas within constituencies are more developed than others, attributing this disparity to Members of Parliament neglecting areas where they did not receive strong voter support.

“This is worrisome because people are denied the most needed development infrastructures or attention simply because they did not give more votes to the member of parliament,” he added.

WOLREC Programmes Officer, Ireen Mtonga said the meeting drew all nine traditional authorities and one key faith leader to a dialogue on social accountability in their respective areas.

Mtonga added that many communities have expressed concerns about their Members of Parliament failing to deliver on campaign promises, noting that the dialogue aimed to offer solutions to these community concerns.

“We also encourage community leaders to support women, youths and people with disability as Malawi prepares for general elections in September," she added.

Nsanje District Commissioner, Dominic Mwandira said the engagement was crucial as it will help the district to hold peaceful elections.

He therefore urged traditional and faith leaders at the meeting to promote peace in their respective communities.

With funding from the European Union, WOLREC and Oxfam are implementing a project on; Promoting Gender Transformative and Youth Inclusive Democracy in Malawi.

The EU funded project aims at promoting inclusion of women, youth, and marginalized groups to meaningfully participate in political and decision-making structures and processes.