Body empowers grassroots to hold councilors accountable

The Malawi Local Government Association (MALGA) is empowering grassroots leaders to be participating in budgeting and implementation of various projects.

This, according to MALGA executive director Charles Chunga would ensure that the councilors are held accountable in implementation of local government development projects.d

He was speaking yesterday in Lilongwe during a three-day capacity building training the association has organized for Area Development Committee (ADC) members of the Lilongwe District Council.

He said: “We have learnt that the ADCs do not take part in the budgeting of the projects. This makes it difficult for them to hold the councilors accountable. But now they will be trained on how budgeting is drafted and implemented. This will enable them to query when they are not satisfied with the project implementation.”

Chunga also said that the training will address the misunderstandings that arise between communities and the councilors when some projects are not being implemented.

“The committees sometimes blame the councilors for lack of movement- project delays. This may happen because of funding challenges but the communities just think that the councilors lack seriousness. This is an opportunity for them to learn more on how finances are disbursed,” he said.

One of the participants Sample Msakambewa Area Development committee chair for Traditional Authority Mazengera said lack of knowledge on budget and project implementation was a major setback in their effort to monitor the local government activities.

“Now we will be able to understand all the processes and it will be easy to raise questions wherever we see things going wrong,” he said