Balaka District Council decries funding delay
Balaka District Council chairperson Michael Chauluka has bemoaned funding delay from central government.
He said this in the district on Saturday during a public expenditure meeting organised by Nkhadze Alive Youth Organisation.
Chauluka said only K19 million out of the allocated K117 million has been released for the 2020/21 financial year.
“There is disorganisation in the disbursement of District Development Fund [DDF] to the councils. This has affected our plans to renovate Balaka District Hospital wards that were damaged by fire in June last year,” he said.
In his remarks, Kapalamula Area Development Committee chairperson James Kaliza said government should improve on DDF funding to enable councils to fulfil their development plans.
Nkhadze Alive Youth Organisation programmes manager Raphael Yusuf said the meeting sought to share Balaka District Public Expenditure Report with councillors and other duty-bearers.
“With different stakeholders we developed a district project checklist.
“However, we noted that development structures are ignored when spending development funds,” he said.
The organisation conducted the meeting with funding from USAid through Local Government Accountability Programme.
When contacted yesterday, National Local Government Financing Committee director of finance Kondwani Santhe said he needed more time to look into the Balaka District Council funding.
“I need to verify the figures because I cannot just say off my head. What I know is that for 2019/20financial year, government funded 100 percent all councils,” he said.
