Councillor resigns over double role
Councillor for Ngala Ward in Lilongwe Msozi North Constituency, Misheck Khomba, has resigned from his position, a few months after being summoned by Lilongwe District Council’s human resources committee for doubling as a headteacher for Minga Community Day Secondary School in the district.
Lilongwe District Commissioner Charles Makanga confirmed having received Khomba’s resignation on September 8 2015 in which he indicated that he was resigning to concentrate on the work he was doing before he became councillor.
“I received the letter and forwarded it to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for appropriate direction on the matter,” said Makanga.
MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa confirmed that the Commission received the letter and it would soon be gazetting the vacancy.
He, however, said MEC could not be in a position to tell when a by-election would be conducted.
“The nation will be informed as to when the by-elections will be conducted. We also have a vacancy in Mchinji and definitely we will be planning to hold the by elections together,” said Mwafulirwa.
Khomba is reported to have admitted that he was doubling roles when he was summoned on two separate occasions by the council in July, two months after the media reported that he was doubling roles, according to the council’s chairperson, Peter Chikuse.
“He admitted that he was doubling roles but said he thought it was not wrong as the position of councillor is on voluntary basis,” said Chikuse.
Media reports indicated that the councillor registered as Misheck Khomba when he contested for the elections on a Malawi Congress Party ticket but is known as Misheck Khomba Muhanji at the school where he is headteacher.
National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust District Civic Education Officer for Lilongwe Rural, Daniel Malango has since bemoaned the malpractice describing it as a waste of people’s time.
“People from his ward had a lot of expectations from him that he would help the area in development activities,” said Malango.
Khomba’s issue came to light during an interface meeting organised by Nice in the area when people complained that he was not assisting them as he was preoccupied with teaching.
We need to think about this issue. In many countries, working as a councillor doesnt mean you have to resign from your job. I feel it is affecting representation in the sense that some qualified people, who could have served the communities better, are avoiding this noble position. They are afraid that they may lose their job. The truth of the matter is that councillors are not in office 100% of the time. Since they live in the community they are already representing them because they observe, hear and experience the community life- which later they formally express in council meetings. We need to review this issue.