Council loses K600 000 revenue in four months

Chiradzulu District Council has lost revenue about K600 000 in four months due to poor management, records show.

One of the council’s revenue collectors, Margaret Kanjuchi, told Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Friday that since September 2017, she has been failing to collect revenue from businesspeople at a market near Chiradzulu District Hospital.

According to her, the matter was reported to council officials, but nothing has been done.

“I reported the matter to our office and all responsible persons were aware, but no action has been taken,” Kanjuchi explained, adding that she stayed for one and a half months without collecting revenue as there were conflicts between her and the vendors.

Shire Market, which is close to the hospital, was burnt last September.

It is alleged that no council official has gone to inspect and assess the damage to establish the cause of the fire; hence, vendors are refusing to pay market fees.

Kanjuchi said she only collects revenue from businesspeople who do not have designated places for doing business.

She said before the market caught fire last year, she was collecting close to K7 000 per day and now she collects only K2 000 which translates to K600 000.

The council’s chairperson, Distone Mphero, said it is unfair that council officials are failing to fix the problem at the market.

“Visiting the affected persons does not require money. I am not blaming the vendors for not paying market fees, as a council we need to fix their problems first,” he said.

Mphero promised to organise officials from the council to visit the concerned vendors to sensitise them to the need for paying market fees and discuss the way forward. n