POOR COORDINATION BETWEEN GOVERNMENT SECTORS AT COUNCILS, A DISSERVICE TO THE PUBLIC
Deputy Minister of Local Government Unity and Culture Owen Chomanika has underscored the need for effective coordination between government sectors working at district councils in the country.
Addressing officials from central region district councils during the launch of a two-day quarterly coordination meeting at Chikho Hotel in Dowa, Chomanika conceded that lack of proper coordination at councils affects service delivery.
“The ministry came up with the idea of holding quarterly meetings after a comprehensive analysis of service delivery at councils revealed that lack of proper coordination between government sectors at the council level is impeding development activities,” said Chomanika.
Chomanika says the continued outcry from the public each time councils carry out an exercise with public interest is a sign that someone is not doing things right at local councils.
“Why should we have questionable recruitment systems? Delays in procurement of services, in resolving land disputes, and assisting people at deceased estates at councils. This is a manifestation of no effective coordination between sectors,” added Chomanika.
He also bemoaned the tendency of non-governmental organizations to continuously take council officers to field visits, thus halting government operations as the officers are always out of office.
Chomanika argues that the ministry and councils exist to serve the communities and if people are not getting the much-needed service they should question why the status is like that.
However, he expressed optimism that the meeting is going to present an opportunity to DCs, heads of departments, councilors, and the NGORA to learn best practices from each other as some councils are doing better in some areas.
On his part, the executive director of Malawi Local Government Association Hadrod Zeru Mkandawire concurred with Chomanika that there are gaps in coordination between government sectors at the council level.
Mkandawire also revealed that councils are also struggling with technical integration as most ministries still have the monopoly in controlling sector staff over district Commissioners despite devolving powers through decentralization drive.
“There are times that a sector at the council level implements a project that is not well aligned with the district development plan just because the line ministry has decided to implement such projects,” said Mkandawire.
He assured the public that through the association they will be encouraging their members to enhance coordination so that communities should access quality services.
Meanwhile, the board Chairperson for the national finance local government committee Richard Chapweteka expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the district council in adhering to operations guidelines for several development funds saying in the just-ended fiscal year about 20 councils submitted audit reports without queries.
Councils through the Ministry of Local Government Unity and Culture are required to meet quarterly to evaluate their performance. However, they failed to meet in the first quarter of this fiscal year due to other reasons.
