The Malawi Local Government Authority (Malga) has requested an audience with the Minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe seeking answers to the three-month funding gap to the country’s councils.
Malga Executive Director Hadrod Mkandawire confirmed of authoring the letter to the minister but refused to shed more light on it.
“We sent it to government. That is what matters,” he said.
Government has not funded councils for other recurrent transactions (ORT) and general resource fund (GRF) for the past three months, a development which has crippled most councils’ operations.
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A letter that we have seen dated September 20, 2023 addressed to the Secretary to the Treasury and copied to Secretary for Local Government, Unity and Culture and the Executive Director of National Local Government Finance Committee argues that the current situation has negatively affected the governance and operations of the local government.
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“In light of the foregoing, we would like to request your good office Sir, to provide to us detailed time lines the system issues would be comprehensively addressed, and, the steps being undertaken to address the three-month funding gap.
“Further, we would like to take this opportunity, to kindly request for an audience with the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, at his most convenient time within a reasonable period of time, to discuss general fiscal devolution progress in Malawi. We would be most grateful if we would receive your kind response as soon as possible considering the urgency of this matter,” reads part of the letter.
Malga further said if the matter is not addressed the functionalities of the local authorities will come to a standstill.
“If the current situation is not addressed immediately, and or if repeated in future, has a high likelihood of bringing the functionality of the local authorities to stand still, which, will in turn, disfranchise the citizenry. We appreciate the reasons the government through your Ministry, have provided in the recent past through the media, for the funding delay. However, we are of the considered view the delay is unusually long,” it reads.
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However, Secretary to the Treasury Macdonald Mafuta Mwale said he did not receive the letter in question.
“I do not have the letter. How come you have a letter that is directed to government? I cannot comment because I do not have the letter. We will be waiting to get the letter from the people who gave you,” he said.
Willy Kambwandira of Centre for Social Accountability and Transformation (CSAT) urged the government to give an explanation as to why councils have gone this long without funding.
“It would be better if government came up with a clarification or explanation as to why. Otherwise, this leaves room for speculation considering how Malawians are flooded with bad news regarding poor public finance management, transparency and accountability,” he said.
In the 2023-24 Financial Year, Treasury allocated K488.1 billion to local councils. The allocation comprises K379.2 billion for Personal Emoluments, K60.4 billion for Development Projects and K48.4 billion for ORT.
