A K64 million classroom block built to ease congestion at Nasite Primary School in Mangochi District has developed cracks before being handed over to the community, raising concerns over the quality of the work.
Member of the Community Social Accountability Committee in the area, Issa Chimwala, said residents initially welcomed the project because the school has 1,437 learners but are now concerned about its quality.
“The roof was done using very small timber which is not fit for such a big project. This is not durable and we are surprised if Mangochi District Council has experts who inspect projects,” Chimwala said.
Group Village Head Likala, in whose area the school is located, said the community was not involved in monitoring the project and alleged that the contractor left without formally handing over the block.
“As a community, we reported it to Malawi Economic Justice Network (Mejn), which trained and encouraged us to keep tracking developments and demanding answers from our duty bearers,” Likala said.
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He said the community later wrote to the District Commissioner and attended a meeting where they were assured that the contractor would carry out maintenance works.
“Unfortunately, the contractor did not address the issues we raised. This is why we are demanding accountability on this matter,” Likala said.
The concerns follow an accountability report which found that several development projects in the district required follow-up over concerns about their implementation.
Mejn Regional Coordinator responsible for the South, Mike Banda, said the concerns showed that the organisation’s training was helping communities monitor public expenditure.
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Banda said Mejn had been training communities in public expenditure tracking under the ‘Fighting Inequality’ project in the four traditional authorities of Chimwala, Jalasi, Nankumba and Mponda with support from Norad through NCA-DCA.
Norwegian Church Aid and DanChurchAid (NCA-DCA) Programme Officer Aisha Katungwe said the community’s response demonstrates the importance of residents monitoring projects intended to benefit them.
“What the communities are doing is ensuring that money meant for their development is utilised accordingly. The action by the locals is directly linked to democracy and good governance,” Katungwe said.
Member of Parliament for Mangochi Nkungulu, Aisha Mambo, said she could not comment on the project because she had been unable to check its progress.
Director of Planning and Development for Mangochi Municipal Council, Fortunate Msukwa, said concerns raised by communities would be taken into account in future projects.
