Council shake-up faces reality test

By Clever Mwale: The government has announced plans to separate district and city council headquarters as part of a wider decentralisation drive aimed at spreading development across Malawi. Local Government and Rural Development Minister Ben Phiri said the restructuring is designed to create new growth centres, reduce cases of rural-to-urban migration and accelerate the implementation of the Malawi 2063 development agenda. The reforms will culminate in districts such as Lilongwe, Blantyre and Zomba establishing separate district headquarters away from city councils, following existing models such as Mzimba and Mzuzu, and Thyolo and Luchenza. "We are living in a global village. We are talking about urbanisation. We must spread development instead of congesting it in one place," Phiri said. He said operating district and city councils from the same location had concentrated investment in urban centres while limiting development in district headquarters. "There is no reason why Lilongwe City and Lilongwe District Council should remain in one place. Development must spread so that while the city develops, the district headquarters also grow," Phiri said. Phiri said the policy seeks to stimulate local economies by ensuring government infrastructure, businesses and jobs are established beyond major cities. The minister's optimism comes as the government is also pushing a new National Decentralisation Strategy of 2026–2036, arguing that councils now have the capacity to drive development and deliver services closer to communities. The strategy builds on the 2024 National Decentralisation Policy and is intended to address implementation gaps that have persisted since decentralisation was introduced in 1998. However, events in Rumphi have highlighted the challenges confronting councils despite the policy ambitions. MTUMBUKA—This is symptomatic of failing government systems UTM legislator for Rumphi East Matthews Mtumbuka said Parliament had to intervene after Rumphi District Hospital's mortuary was left with only three functioning cooling units out of 12 because the district failed to mobilise K6.8 million for repairs. Mtumbuka said the malfunctioning mortuary, which serves the entire district, raised fears of public health risks and compromised the dignity of the deceased whenever fatalities exceeded available cooling space. Following debate in Parliament, lawmakers from UTM, the Democratic Progressive Party, Alliance for Democracy and an independent legislator, among others, raised K10.5 million from personal contributions to repair the facility. While describing the cross-party fundraising as commendable, Mtumbuka said the episode exposed weaknesses in government systems. "It shouldn't take Parliament debating K6.8 million just to repair a mortuary. To me, this is symptomatic of failing government systems," he said.

WIRE — By Clever Mwale: The government has announced plans to separate district and city council headquarters as part of a wider decentralisation drive aimed at spreading development across Malawi. Local Government and Rural Development Minister Ben Phiri said the restructuring is designed to create new growth centres, reduce cases of rural-to-urban migration and accelerate the implementation of the Malawi 2063 development agenda. The reforms will culminate in districts such as Lilongwe, Blantyre and Zomba establishing separate district headquarters away from city councils, following existing models such as Mzimba and Mzuzu, and Thyolo and Luchenza. "We are living in a global village. We are talking about urbanisation. We must spread development instead of congesting it in one place," Phiri said. He said operating district and city councils from the same location had concentrated investment in urban centres while limiting development in district headquarters. "There is no reason why Lilongwe City and Lilongwe District Council should remain in one place. Development must spread so that while the city develops, the district headquarters also grow," Phiri said. Phiri said the policy seeks to stimulate local economies by ensuring government infrastructure, businesses and jobs are established beyond major cities. The minister's optimism comes as the government is also pushing a new National Decentralisation Strategy of 2026–2036, arguing that councils now have the capacity to drive development and deliver services closer to communities. The strategy builds on the 2024 National Decentralisation Policy and is intended to address implementation gaps that have persisted since decentralisation was introduced in 1998. However, events in Rumphi have highlighted the challenges confronting councils despite the policy ambitions. MTUMBUKA—This is symptomatic of failing government systems UTM legislator for Rumphi East Matthews Mtumbuka said Parliament had to intervene after Rumphi District Hospital's mortuary was left with only three functioning cooling units out of 12 because the district failed to mobilise K6.8 million for repairs. Mtumbuka said the malfunctioning mortuary, which serves the entire district, raised fears of public health risks and compromised the dignity of the deceased whenever fatalities exceeded available cooling space. Following debate in Parliament, lawmakers from UTM, the Democratic Progressive Party, Alliance for Democracy and an independent legislator, among others, raised K10.5 million from personal contributions to repair the facility. While describing the cross-party fundraising as commendable, Mtumbuka said the episode exposed weaknesses in government systems. "It shouldn't take Parliament debating K6.8 million just to repair a mortuary. To me, this is symptomatic of failing government systems," he said.

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