Councillors not useful—Mchinji residents

Some residents of Mchinji on Monday took councillors to task, accusing them of not proving useful to the people who elected them in last year’s local government polls.

The residents raised the concerns at a public debate organised by the National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust aimed at providing people in the district an opportunity to comment on how their representatives have fared since they were elected.

Most of the people said since their election last year, most councillors have not visited their wards to get people’s views and assess their needs.

Hellen Makukula from Women Hope for Change queried the usefulness of councilors, saying all they do is attend council meetings, but have nothing to show on the ground.

She said: “Councillors were elected to represent people from the grass roots and ensure that people’s needs are met and development takes place in their areas, but this is not the case.”

In his response, Mchinji district commissioner Richard Hara said the absence of councillors for many years made it difficult for the council to involve them in each and every programme.

Said Hara: “Our officials are slowly adapting to the change and will involve councillors in all programmes the council is undertaking.”