Govt not dormant in the ongoing differences between Local Councillors, MPs
Government says efforts are being done to facilitate
effective integration of Councillors in their respective Councils in order to
end the ongoing wrangle between them and Members of Parliament (MPs) regarding their
roles and responsibilities.
Honorable Tarsizio Gowelo Minister of Local
Government and Rural Development made the remarks at a media conference in
Lilongwe on Monday, on how the Ministry is progressing
on the ushering in of newly elected Councillors into office in all councils to ensure
that they are providing better service in their communities.
The Minister acknowledged that there are ongoing
misunderstanding between MPs and Councillors surrounding their roles saying the
development has been exacerbated by the fact that Councils operated without
Councillors in the past 9 years.
He said currently his Ministry together with its
cooperating partners among them Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN), National
Democratic Institute (NDI), have been training Councillors in all the regions
across the country.
And in order to assist Councillors discharge
their responsibilities effectively, clarify roles of the various members of the
Council and foster harmony in their relationship with other stakeholders, the
Ministry has developed number of documents including a Guidebook on Local
Government System in Malawi; A Guide for Conducting Local Authority Business in
Malawi; and a Handbook for Councillors and other Council Members in Malawi.
“From 24 to 30 June, 2014 my Ministry together
with our cooperating partners organized concurrent regional orientation sessions that were
carried in all the regions of the country. These orientation sessions were
aimed at enlightening Councillors about their roles and responsibilities in the
Councils as they had just been ushered in into the Councils”He said
Gowelo
also said he made some follow ups to these trainings, by hold meetings with
Councillors across the country where himself and senior officers from his
Ministry had an opportunity to interact and share a “few principles on how to
generate a legacy” in the Councils which is associated with quality service
delivery and accelerated socio-economic development.
He
indicated that with support from UNDP the remaining members of the Councils including,
elected Councillors, MPs, Chiefs and Council Secretariat will be oriented
within December this year.
He
said very soon the Ministry will enter into a partnership with the National Initiative
for Civic Education (NICE) Trust to embark on massive public education in the
local government system as a whole, so that people understands roles of various
members of the Councils, channel their demands to the right duty bearers and
hold them service delivery accountability.
But
on Conditions of Service for Coucillors, the minister mentioned that during
these meetings, Councillors were taken through their Conditions of Service as
approved by Government after thorough consultations within Government and with
key stakeholders in decentralisation and Integrated Rural Development.
The
Minister said it was made clear to the Councillors that their Conditions of
Service are meant to facilitate their operations, and that these Conditions of
Service were not meant for full time employment. “After all, the work of
Councillors is voluntary” he said.
But
Hon. Gowelo was quick to note that since most of the Councils still need some
assistance from the central Government, therefore support will continue to be
given to Councils until such a time they are able to stand on their own as it
should be.
He
said issues of transport for Mayors and Deputy Mayors in Cities and Municipal
Councils his Ministry “would try to see how best it could assist.” But he also
said his Ministry will initiate consultations within Government and with
Cooperating Partners to chart the way forward on proposals made by Councillors
most of which bordered on policy, including some improvements in their
Conditions of Service, the loan sum and administration of Motorcycle loans.
According to the Minister with support from
MEJN, the Ministry has trained Councillors in 20 districts whilst Councillors
from 3 Councils have been trained with support from NDI. He said the ongoing trainings are covering
specific areas such as Financial Management, Procurement, Auditing, Planning
and Development, Project Management and Ethics in Local Governance.
