MP, councillor taken to task over unfulfilled promises

Communities from group village head (GVH) Kachaso in Nsanje last week took their councillor and member of Parliament (MP) to task for what they described as the elected leaders’ failure to address people’s social and economic challenges.
The National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust in conjunction with Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) held an interface meeting at Makoka Primary School to enable the electorate to engage their leaders on developmental issues.
Speaking at the meeting, GVH Kachaso challenged councillor for Matundu Ward, Bester Chungano and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator for Nsanje South Constituency, Thomson Kamangira, to start delivering on their promises.
He said boreholes in his area stopped functioning, forcing people to walk seven kilometres or more to the nearest borehole.
“Those who cannot manage to walk that distance are drinking from unsafe sources together with animals. Both of you are  aware of these problems and you promised that you’d address them once elected. Now that you are in office, can you assure me that you are doing something to address this problem?” he asked.
The chief said lack of water in the area has stalled other development projects such as moulding of bricks for school blocks.
“People are also looking forward to seeing you, the MP, to facilitate installation of electricity to the area to boost businesses and improve people’s lives,” said Kachaso.
Both Chungano and Kamangira admitted that they have not been in touch with their people since Malawi held the first ever tripartite elections on May 20 2014.
The leaders pleaded with the people to give them more time to deliver.
Nsanje district civic education officer  Kondwani Malunga said Nice and CMD want to keep Malawians informed and empowered; thereby influencing people to take part in decision-making processes and demand development from leaders.
Malunga observed that if citizens keep quiet, elected leaders tend to forget promises they made during campaign.
He commended the MP and the councillor for attending the meeting, which was financed by  Tilitonse Fund. n