Mzuzu City in trouble over K1.4bn road projects
Mzuzu City Council (MCC) secretariat has come under fire from the city’s mayor, member of Parliament (MP) and councillors over the manner it is handling the K1.4 billion ($2,500,000) tarmac road projects and other affairs at the council.
In the 2015/16 National Budget, Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development allocated K1.4 billion to the council for construction of tarmac roads despite the ministry having reservations about its capacity to manage projects of such magnitude.
Following the allocation, a full council meeting approved roads to be upgraded to bitumen standard using the K1.4 billion.
In August, government released K1 billion for construction of the roads, but one of the roads that was prioritised, Luwinga-Dunduzu Road, is being resurfaced with gravel.
The decision to apply gravel forced Mzuzu City mayor William Mkandawire yesterday to forgo his honeymoon and take the secretariat to task in a full council meeting.
He said: “I have also noted that some directors make decisions without consulting service committees. I want a full report on the expenditure so far.”
MP Leonard Njikho said he too was puzzled with the gravel that MCC offloaded on the Luwinga road. He also questioned some of the activities that the secretariat carried out using the K1 billion ($1,785,714).
Mzuzu City chief executive officer McCloud Kadammanja has since called on departments to provide reports on progress of the projects and future plans. n
