‘PP rejected in area development committees’

Stakeholders at a Pan Africa Civic Educators Network (Pacenet) review meeting on Wednesday rebuffed People’s Party’s (PP) efforts to impose itself on local governance structures in some districts.

Pacenet executive director Steve Duwa said the party’s efforts to destabilise the structures are also reported in Mchinji.

He was speaking during a review meeting of his organisation’s activities in three councils of Thyolo, Chiradzulu and Luchenza which are being carried out using Tilitonse funds.

Pacenet is conducting a programme aimed at empowering local governance structures in the three councils to ensure transparency and accountability in development projects.

The stakeholders asked Pacenet to approach PP and present the concerns and urge the party to stop poking its nose into well-established structures.

The rebuff comes in the wake of reports that the ruling PP bulldozed itself on some area development committees (ADCs) in some parts of the country, especially in Thyolo.

Director of planning and development at Luchenza Town Council Tamanya Harawa told a gathering in Blantyre on Wednesday that PP officials approached Luchenza Town Council demanding the restructuring of the ADCs with the intention to include PP members.

“But we refused,” he said, “and they left annoyed.”

Chief Bvumbwe told the meeting that he also refused to have the ADCs restructured for the sake of PP because the tenure of office of the current committees, ADCs and village development committees will expire in 2014.