By Wanangwa Tembo

Kasungu, February 2, Mana: District Commissioner for Kasungu, James Kanyangalazi, has assured people in the district of more development initiatives in the 2024/2025 financial year as more funds have been directed towards development activities.

Kanyangalazi was speaking Thursday when Kasungu District Council officials faced the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) in a budget review and hearing meeting in Mzuzu.

He said: “Let the communities in Kasungu know that we are doing the best we can so that we finish our budgets and get the funds as required. What is interesting is that a lot of funds are going towards development activities.

“This year, the people of Kasungu should expect development funds in billions of Kwacha. This is encouraging and is good news for our communities as it means more development initiatives for the district.”

Kanyangalazi said, despite delays in funding, the Council is determined to finish all the projects that were earmarked to be completed in the 2023/2024 financial year.

“We have several development projects including bridges, staff houses, police units, and new offices for the Council. These are good structures that speak a lot about the good job that donors and government are doing for the people of Kasungu,” he said.

However, NLGFC Budget Analyst, Jonathan Banda, said the Council should improve on local revenue collection to smoothen its operations.

He said: “We are hesitant to agree with revenue estimates for Kasungu because they seem to be on the lower side. They must increase efforts on local revenue collection.

“With the current patterns of central government transfers being erratic, they need to increase local revenue collection so that they have a steady amount of resources for them to implement their activities smoothly.”

In the 2024/2025 financial year, the district is expected to receive an estimated K28 billion transfers from the central government. Its local revenue has been projected at K149 million, up from K120 million in the 2023/2024 financial year.

NLGFC is engaging councils across the country to ensure that their budgets adhere to national priorities and financial regulations before they are consolidated and sent to parliament for approval.

The exercise is also meant to assess the council’s compliance with provided guidelines regarding activity prioritisation and prudent resource utilisation as a show of commitment to responsible financial governance and an accountable local government system in the country.