Thyolo, 2019: Efficient and swift delivery of services by council secretariats is enhanced if they are accommodated under one roof, a system which cuts on travel time in search of data from sections and minimizes complacency by junior officers.

 While recruitment of new staff is done regularly, some Local Authorities (LAs) take decades to have office spaces increased to match with rising numbers of staff.

One such council is Thyolo where part of the council secretariat is housed in a building that was constructed in 1900 formerly used by Conforzi Estate Management which later released it to Thyolo district council which was previously under Chikwawa district administration.

“We are now building a 3 storey office complex which will have 80 rooms and can house all government sectors with 120 members of staff under one roof.

We have had problems of office space, nevertheless, once the building is completed, it will change the outlook of Thyolo,” Jossen Tembo, council’s monitoring and evaluation officer expresses his joy.

This does not mean the old complex will be dumped. It will continue serving its purpose. “The old office complex will still be used by council staff or may be rented out for revenue generation,” Tembo reveals the council’s plan.

He recalls the district council office, police and prisons were infrastructures and compounds for Conforzi Estate before they were occupied by council senior and junior staff.

Roads and building supervisor, Hastings Phiri says, despite that office handover by Conforzi, National Registration Bureau (NRB) officers are crowded in one room serving people in a very difficult condition.

 Phiri, however, hopes the problem would be an old story when the 3 storey office complex being built by RAYs construction company, will be completed.

 The new office complex which stalled was supposed to be completed in 18 months. It is expected to cost about Mk2 billion financed by Central Government through National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC).

Thyolo district has a population of 130,984 according to 2018 Malawi Population and Housing Census Main Report. It borders, Chikwawa in the south west, Nsanje in the south, Mulanje in the east and Blantyre in the north.