‘Local projects not following procedure in Phalombe’

Phalombe District Council projects are being run without laid down guidelines, Malawi News Agency has learnt.

The projects at fault are those of Local Development Fund (LDF), Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and District Development Fund (DDF), according to some members of Parliament (MPs), councillors and chiefs.

Speaking during a development review meeting organised by Development Communications Trust (DCT) and Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), councillors said they are aware that funds for community development have guidelines, but are not aware of what the guidelines stipulate.

Mpasa ward councillor Damson Chiphaka said the past two and a half years saw only MPs handling everything pertaining to projects.

But in response to the accusations, the district’s director of planning and development Morson Magombo said the secretariat is aware of the knowledge gap among councillors.

But he argued that councillors were fully trained in the procedure soon after their election in May 2014.

Magombo said there is lack of interest by some councillors. n