VDCs urged to be vigilant on developmental projects

Mchinji District Council has urged newly-elected village development committees (VDCs) to be vigilant for easy access to development projects.

The call was made during a meeting with new VDC members at Kawere Village in Traditional Authority Mkanda in the district.

Mchinji District Council acting director of planning and development Noel Dakamau said VDCs  generate village action plan (VAPs), an input towards district action plans, a tool used by non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders in developing the district.

“For the district to tick in terms of development, there is need to have active VDCs. We cannot talk about development without VDCs. These are the genesis of development and development must be championed by VDCs as part of decentralisation,” he said.

Dakamau warned the newly-elected VDCs against politicising development projects.

Dakamau said the Local Government Act requires that VDCs be elected every five years and they consist of not more than 16 members, including ward councillors.

In a separate interview,  newly elected chairperson of Kawele VDC, Numeri Sakala, said he would cooperate with other members of the committee to have a strong voice in demanding development in the area.

“We will be consulting the ex-committee members of this VDC so that we learn what measures were put in place for easy access to development and also the failures they encountered,” he said.