Chikwawa District Council Rejects Reports for Alleged Irregularities

Malawi-Members of the Chikwawa District Council in Malawi have rejected three reports from the works, development, and finance committees for alleged irregularities and unclear presentation, writes Comfort Bulangete.

The council chair of the district, Khofati Malunga, pointed out alleged poor reporting and unclear explanations of some projects that had two different figures for the same project.

"We observed some abnormalities; for example, we were told that Makala teacher's house was allocated 37 million Kwacha, but today we hear of 44 million Kwacha being used," Malunga said.

Although the finance committee explained that the other money was meant for administration, it was supposed to be summed up and shown in the breakdown.

Malunga also claimed that he was surprised to see the mention of other projects that pretend to be finished while they are yet to be completed.

"Yes, members expected us to bring a report with a breakdown, but they forgot that we have to give them a summary report," said Finance Chair Clement Komoto.

Komoto refuted the allegation of mismanagement of funds but admitted that the only challenge was that administration costs were not added to the cost of implementation.

"There was no mismanagement of funds, no two figures for a single project, the other cost is for administration, just did not tell the house before the commencement of the projects that there was a special administration cost for each project apart from the actual implementation cost," he said.

Senior Chief Ngabu commended the council for rejecting some reports and described it as maturity.

Malunga emphasized the importance of transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.