Malawi Local Government Association (MALGA) has decried that the country’s decentralization drive continues face hitches in fiscal autonomy of local councils, unlike functional transfer of powers that were previously predominantly for the central government. MALGA Executive Director, Hadrod Mkandawire, has said this to Zodiak Online as Malawi on 10 August was commemorating African Day of Decentralization and Local Development, emphasizing that political will is the solution to this. “Government has made commendable progress in reference to function devolution.
However, we have longway to go on meaningful political and fiscal devolution,” he notes. Mkandawire claims that some key decisions continue to be made or vetted at central government, a thing he says undermines the concept of decentralization. On sharing of financial resources between central government and local councils, the MALGA Executive Director says continue being treated as agencies of development, instead of development actors.
“You will see that in 2024/2025 national budget, it’s only 4 percent of generated revenue that was allocated to local councils, which is contrary to what decentralization policy stipulates” Mkandawire says. However, Director of Quality Assurance in Ministry of Local Government, Darwin Pangani, tells a different story on the concerns and overall implementation of decentralization. He dismisses the concerns saying currently government is alloting more than what the decentralization policy prescribes, adding that the policy demands for a 5 percent allocation from state revenue.
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“They are talking about sharing resources from levies and toll-gates, they are left to the government because it has other services and obligations that require those funds,” he argues. However, Director of Quality Assurance in Ministry of Local Government, Darwin Pangani, says some of the challenges in allocations to local councils are a result of global fiscal meltdown, which has not spared Malawi. Malawi adopted decentralization two decades ago, with primary goal of speeding up development through transfer of some powers of the central government to local councils, among others.
Kenphord Mdima is a journalist, who has reported across radio, television and print since 2014. He brings stories to life with clarity, depth and purpose.
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