Zomba City Council has described the e-ticketing system of collecting revenue as a tool for increased revenue and reduced fraud at collection points in councils.

ZCC introduced e ticketing in its markets, car parks and depot in July, 2017, a decision which saw council revenue increase to an average 53% in the first years of implementation

Principal Investments Promotion Officer for the council Maurice Tsoka Banda said since the introduction of the system, the council’s revenue collection in markets, carparks and depot have improved, fraudulent activities among revenue collectors reduced, and accountability improved which has resulted in improved service provision.

 “This improvement in collection translates to an improved service delivery to the residents of Zomba. For example, on issues like waste management, we are able to service and fuel our vehicles and collect waste in all spots, be it in markets or residential areas,” he said.

Tsoka Banda also said the increased revenue, has enabled the council to pay employee salaries in good time and also improve project monitoring which was not the case previously.

The introduction of the e-ticketing according to Banda has been well welcomed by the vendors in markets and depot as they are assured that by using this system, their market fees will benefit the council as the machines record transactions on council systems in real time, therefore according no chance to revenue collectors to pocket the money.

According to Tsoka Banda “before the implementation of the system vendors in our markets and their leadership were briefed, and now they appreciate the accountability that e-ticketing brings, and so they pay voluntarily, refuse to pay when revenue collectors are using manual tickets and act as whistle blowers to the council where manual tickets are issued without a clear explanation.”

Currently Zomba City Council is planning to make the system even more effective by interfacing it with its Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and expand e-ticketing to other revenue bases, starting with automation of business license issuance.

Beneficiaries of the Covid-19 emergency urban cash transfer also known as Covid19 Urban Cash Injection (CUCI) have started receiving payments as of February 2021.

National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) Community Driven Development Specialist, Stanley Chuthi said CUCI emanates from the  restructuring of Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP) to allow the project respond to the COVID-19 emergency through targeted cash transfer response within the framework of the existing Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP).

“SSRLP is guided by the Malawi National Social Support Programme II (MNSSP II) which includes Shock Sensitive Social Protection pillar which talks about the expendability and adaptability of SSPs in times of shocks and disasters. The intervention is a response to the Covid 19 pandemic which the President declared in March 2020 as a disaster,” said Chuthi.

The programme is being implemented in geographically targeted poverty hotspots based on the cities’ social-economic profiles and household vulnerability assessment. The cash transfers are supporting 199,640 beneficiary households through a monthly cash payment of MK35, 000 over a period of three months (January-March).

Out of the 199,640 beneficiaries, World Bank through the NLGFC under SSRLP will support 58,487 in Lilongwe and 53,513 in Blantyre totaling to 112,000 beneficiaries while European Union and KFW will support the other beneficiaries in the four cities.

When asked about how the beneficiaries will receive their payments, Chief Economist at the department of Economic Plannning and Development. Bessie Msusa said that the Urban Cash Transfer intervention would be delivered using mobile money system (MMS).

‘Due to Covid 19 and to avoid risks of one having huge sums of money when going to make payments, we thought it is wise to use electronic transfers. As such, TNM and Airtel Malawi were contracted to be disbursement agents. Funds are being sent to the two mobile operators and beneficiaries are receiving through either Airtel money or TNM Mpamba,” she said

However, only those eligible beneficiaries that successfully identified themselves in the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) exercise and had their data aligned with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms register have started receiving the transfers.

CUCI is an intervention that seeks to cushion livelihoods of vulnerable and low-income households from the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19. The cash transfers targets those who primarily derive their livelihoods from the informal sector, especially those who depend on piecework, petty trading or those who may have been laid off from work.

Stakeholders have commended National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) for the timely, consistent and regular Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) payments in all 11 District Councils supported by the World Bank.

This was said recently during a mid-year review of the Social Cash Transfer Programme Implementation at Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi.

“We are glad to note that in the past six months, districts under World Bank funding through NLGFC have been consistent and regular in their payments. All transfers for the six months have been done (MK 8.4 billion) representing 50%.

 This is encouraging and it means we are on track. We can only move higher from here,” said the Deputy Director of Social Welfare in the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Laurent Kamsinjiro.

Kamsinjiro added that during the review, all districts reported that there is increased school enrollment, increased income savings through village savings and loans groups/COMSIP and that households can invest in agriculture to make their households food secure among other things.

Other notable positives during the review include fulfilment of the SCTP objective of supporting ultra-poor and incapacitated households particularly in hunger reduction, increase in school enrolment and improvement of health and nutrition of children living in target group households.  

However, challenges include poor case management, payments without passbooks, payments outside period, missing beneficiary pictures.

NLGFC Social Development Officer, Mateso Kazembe said the review provided a platform for stakeholders to reflect on how best they can improve, as these are recurring issues.

“Every year, we review how we have performed and sharing best practices as well as trying to find solutions to challenges affecting the programme. However, we seem to be facing the same challenges every year. We cannot continue doing business as usual. We will look at how best we can end these recurring problems. During the next review we should focus on different matters,” said Kazembe. 

Participants included officials from Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Ministry of Economic Planning, Development and Public Sector Reforms and NLGFC, District Commissioners, Finance Directors/Chief Accountants and Principal Social Welfare Officers.

They were mobilised from 11 district Councils targeted by the projects namely Rumphi Karonga, Nkhatabay, Nkhotakota, Kasungu, Ntchisi, Dowa, Lilongwe, Dedza, Blantyre and Chiradzulu.

To address environmental degradation affecting Soche Hill, communities in the area of Traditional Nsomba have tightened by laws to stop wanton harvesting of trees and established nurseries to undertake wide scale tree planting.

The motivation to review the bylaws and decisions to establish nurseries are courtesy of a 9-month Enhanced Public Works Program (EPWP) being carried out by the National Local Government Finance Committee.

One of the EPWP) beneficiaries in Kajombo Catchment Bettie Chigwetsa told this Newsletter that the area experiences erratic rainfall and infertile soils because of loss of trees in the hill and surrounding areas.

Chigwetsa said that after learning the importance of trees through several trainings that the project offered, communities have established nurseries with over 20, 000 seedlings in readiness of tree planting.

“We are ready and there is no turning back because we have suffered enough. We want to start a new life where our households will be food secure with a beautiful environment,” said Chigwetsa.

On her part, Maria Supuni, one of the foremen in the catchment committee, said their committee in collaboration with chiefs and community policing have set up strict measures to curb needless tree harvesting in the catchment area.

Supuni said, “Anyone found cutting down trees in the catchment will be punished according to our by-laws which among others include payment of a goat to the chief. However, I doubt if we shall have more of these cases as everyone has been taught to own the project”

Agriculture Extension Development Coordinator for Ntonda Extension Planning Area (EPA), Thoko Mwape, said:

“A number of tree varieties such as Baobab will be planted not only in the hill but also beneficiaries’ farms as leaves of Baobab tree also act as manure, thereby ensuring bumper harvest and improved people's livelihoods.”

The eight-month long pilot project which is being facilitated by the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) with funding from World Bank is being implemented in ten districts of Chitipa, Karonga, Nkhotakota, Kasungu, Dowa, Lilongwe, Balaka, Chiradzulu, Phalombe and Blantrye.

The project focus includes integrated watershed management (IWM) covering sub-projects such as land resource conservation, afforestation, environment and road infrastructure as well as sustainable livelihoods.

Establishment of Audit Recommendations and Implementation Committees (ARICS) in councils across the country is being verified and reviewed to address recurrence of audit queries in the local authorities.

Internal auditors from the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) and the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) are carrying out the exercise jointly.

NLGFC Audit Manager, Thomson Longwe, told NLGFC Newsletter that the team has been visiting councils across the country to establish whether the committees exist and are operating in line with policy guidance from the Secretary to the Treasury.

According to Longwe, Secretary to the Treasury issued a circular in November 2005 directing all Controlling Officers to form an Audit Recommendation and Implementation Committees (ARIC) at every council to effectively facilitate resolving of audit queries.

“The goal of this exercise is to review whether these committees were established and see to it that they are operational,” said Longwe.

He explained that a functional ARIC is key to addressing recurring Audit issues in councils hence the need to know the operational status of these committees and where possible come up with intervention measures for further improvements.

“The Audit Recommendation and Implementation Committees will assist Controlling Officers to resolve audit findings in an effective and timely manner in order to improve the control environment of Councils in line with Section 10-1(p) of the Public Finance Management Act of (2003),” he said.

After this exercise, members of functioning ARIC committees will have a training that will be facilitated by NLGFC and Ministry of Local Government.

Imagine a land of “milk and honey” in a village where citizens access - potable water.

Imagine further, learners going to good schools with recommended teacher-learner ratios.

Imagine also, citizens challenging district council officials over corruption; where duty bearers learn to keep vigilant and be accountable to the empowered ordinary people.

Imagine these imaginations fading away into reality.

That is what Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) project intends to achieve in the next five years of its implementation.

The project aims at revamping and improving council management, development planning, budget and project management in the best interest of ordinary citizens. 

Speaking to this Newsletter, NLGFC’s Capacity Development Specialist Robins Gausi said that GESD will immensely improve lives of people through empowering a local man to have a voice towards their own development.

“The uniqueness of this project is that a common man will be empowered to have voice in order to demand their own development.

This will be possible because the project development objective is to strengthen Local Authorities’ institutional performance, responsiveness to citizens, and management of resources for service delivery’, said Gausi.

He added that, GESD will also introduce a new Performance Based Grant (PBG) beginning 2021/2022 fiscal year.

District councils that perform well as measured by communities’ perception will receive more resources compared to those who perform poorly.

GESD will be facilitated by Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Local Government and implemented by the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC). Other implementing partners include; Accountant General, Central Internal Audit Office, Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, National Audit Office, and Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority – in addition to key partnerships with Civil Society Actors.

the project has four components, Performance-Based Financing for Service Delivery, Inter-Governmental Accountability Systems, Performance Improvement Support and Adaptive Management and Innovation Support.

GESD is a K75 billion (100-million-dollar) project funded by World Bank to be implemented in all the 28 district councils in the country.

Communities around Dema micro-catchment in Nkhotakota have hailed the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) for introducing voluntary community contribution in the pilot Enhanced Public Works Programme (EPWP).

Speaking with NLGFC Newsletter, Land Resources Conservation Officer in Nkhotakota Arthur Chiwayula, said, the idea of working voluntarily on EPWP sub projects by members of the community was positively welcomed.

He added that, apart from working for 12 days in a month, beneficiaries in the pilot EPWP project and community members also work for an additional 5 days as community contribution.

Chiwayula indicated that beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in communities surrounding Dema catchment are happily working for these extra 5 days in a month on EPWP sub projects.

In these 5 days of their contribution towards the project, communities work on afforestation, swales construction, checkdams construction and planting of vertiver grass on the contour ridges among others.

Community Driven Development Specialist (CDDS) at NLGFC, Mr. Stanley Chuthi, said that EPWP was deliberately designed to include the element of community contribution in the implementation of sub projects because that is the only way sustainability of community assets created can be achieved.

“The element of community contribution is important in the pilot EPWP in the sense that it instills the sense of ownership and commitment from beneficiaries and communities supported by the project and it also perceived that it will ensure sustainability of the community assets when the pilot project phases out later in March this year.” He said.

Chuthi also said that introducing a voluntary community contribution in the pilot EPWP project was as a result of lack of sustainable community assets in the productive public works programme under MASAF IV where the assets that were created were not taken care of when the project came to an end.

The pilot Enhanced Public Works Programme (EPWP) is being implemented in 10 districts in the country with funding from the World Bank. The project rolled out in September, 2020 and is expected to end by March 2021.

EPWP adopted Integrated watershed management (IWM) approach, covering sub-projects such as land resource conservation, afforestation, environment, sanitation and road infrastructure, as well as sustainable livelihoods.

There was a time when just seeing Soche Hill would make Edda Libwalo, 73, glow with happiness.

Those were the days when the famous landmark of Blantyre District had lush vegetation. Then, trees were in abundance, as were wild fruits.

“When I was young, we used to go to Soche Hill to gather wild fruits and other edibles. The hill was a source of our livelihood. I long for my girlhood days,” she says.

She laments that what was once a wonder to behold and their source of livelihood is now an eyesore, devoid of trees. 

“The hill has been robbed of its beauty and I am bitter. I no longer take delight in the hill,” says Libwalo of Traditional Authority (TA) Somba in Blantyre.

Her anger over the depletion of trees around Soche Hill prompted her to be involved in a programme that aims to address her concerns.

The Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (EPWP) has given Libwalo a glimmer of hope that Soche Hill will be restored to its former glory.

The National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) is facilitating the implementation of the eight-month EPWP on a pilot basis, and rolled out in September 2020.

NLGFC is a constitutional body established to mobilize, distribute and ensure efficient utilization of financial resources among local authorities for effective and efficient service delivery and development in Malawi.

The K310 million-EPWP is being implemented in Chitipa, Karonga, Nkhotakota, Kasungu, Dowa, Lilongwe, Balaka, Chiradzulu, Phalombe and Blantyre districts.

EPWP aims to address the challenges faced during the implementation of the World Bank-financed Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) 1V Productive Public Works Programme.

The challenges included low compliance with technical norms and standards, creation of large catchments that were difficult to manage, inadequate financial support to extension workers for their operations, and limited monitoring and supervision by local authorities.

The challenges resulted in the creation of low-quality community assets, and lack of ownership to sustain such assets.

The programme attempts to address the challenges in preparation for the implementation of future PWP interventions in Malawi.

In the case of Blantyre, the district has five EPWP catchments, one of which is Kajombo covering Group Village Headmen Jumbe and Somba.

The catchment, which is in the area of TA Somba, comprises eight villages including Somba 1 where Libwalo comes from.

Agriculture is the main activity in the catchment where households grow different types of crops during rainfall season.

During irrigation season, the catchment grows tomatoes, onions, leaf vegetables and green maize. 

But sadly, the Kajombo catchment which falls within the Soche Hill watershed has in recent years suffered from severe environmental degradation.

The degradation of the hill has had a negative effect on the locals’ lives who are now struggling to live due to a reduction in their crop yields.    

“Soche Hill is an asset not only to people in the catchment but also to the watershed,” says Thokozani Mwape, the Agriculture Extension Development Coordinator (AEDO) for the area. 

The watershed encompasses Limbe, Misesa, Quarry, Manja and other populated surrounding areas.

“It is a source of firewood, poles and water for domestic use. It is also a habitat for a range of game,” Mwape told this writer in an interview in Somba 1 Village.

He says Soche Hill has been deforested because of encroachment, quarry mining, careless cutting of trees and the starting of bush fires.

These illegal human activities, according to Mwape, have resulted in devastating soil and water loss, creation of more gullies and reduction of farm land.

He says: “This has made most households to be food-insecure.”  

Mwape says because of illegal human activities around Soche Hill, some rivers and streams dried up, reducing access to water for domestic use.

The EPWP’s focus is therefore on Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) covering sub-projects such as land resource conservation, afforestation, environment and road infrastructure, and sustainable livelihoods. 

EPWP, which has been designed to strengthen household resilience to shocks and create community assets, targets ultra-poor households.

Most of the households in Kajombo catchment are poor and not surprisingly, they have embraced the EPWP, seeing it as a chance to right their wrongs.

During a community participatory rural appraisal exercise, land degradation due to soil erosion was identified as the number problem in the catchment.

Locals have initiated several projects aimed not only at restoring Soche Hill to its former beauty, but also improving soil fertility within the catchment.

The interventions include planting trees around Soche Hill and along river banks to stop land from being degraded further.

Communities are also making water and soil conservation structures such as swales and marker ridges, and check dams to prevent soil erosion.

They EPWP has also given them an opportunity to embarked on income generating activities such as fish farming to improve their well-being.

The EPWP targets 1,000 participants per district and a maximum of five micro-catchments in each district, not larger than 250 hectares each. 

Libwalo is one of the 200 beneficiaries who are implementing the micro projects in the Kajombo catchment.

She says she decided to participate in the programme despite her advanced age for one reason:  to restore Soche Hill.

“It was a beautiful sight in the Ngwazi’s time,” Libwalo says, vividly full of nostalgia for the days of Malawi’s first President, Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

Libwalo, who has 15 grandchildren children, blames the introduction of multiparty politics in the country in the early 1990s for the destruction of Soche Hill.  

“It began with corrupt forest guards who let in people to cut trees after being bribed. Before long, it became a free-for-all,” she says.

Although Libwala is paid for the work she does, she says her motive is a genuine desire to stop further destruction of the environment in the area.

Beneficiaries of the EPWP which ends in March 2021, get wages that are intended to assist in stimulation of local markets as people spend their money to buy their daily needs.

“I want to see a change before I follow my ancestors,” Libwala told this writer as she busied herself tending tree seedlings in a nursery in her village.  

About 10,000 trees are to be planted around Soche Hill. More than half have been planted.  

Maria Supuni, 37, one of the Kajombo catchment supervisors, or foremen as they are known, concurs with Libwala.

“Once upon a time, this place was forested. The soil was fertile and we often had good crop harvests,” she says.

“Today, the forests are gone, and so, too, the rich soil. As a consequence, we frequently have floods and dry spells, resulting in poor crop yields.”

 Supuni says unless people stop doing things that harm the environment, “hunger will continually knock on our doors.”   

Mwape says the EPWP has helped a lot to change people’s attitude towards the environment through training and their own experience.

“They have realized the importance of re-afforestation, and having soil and water conservation structures,” he says.

Mwape says people are so keen to preserve the environment that they have bye-laws that are being enforced through local leaders and community policing.    

“Such zeal will sustain the programme as communities own it and take full responsibility for addressing environmental issues,” he says.

Story Credits: Gospel Mwalwanda (Contributor)

14 billion Kwacha has been transferred to ultra poor households in Malawi under Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) a sub component of MASAF IV Programme.

Natonal Local Government Finance Committee [NLGFC] Social Development Officer, Mateso Kazembe said this in an interview with this newsletter.  Kazembe said 2020 is exceptional as payment of transfers has been regular and fulfilling MASAF IV guiding principles.

“In 2020, despite COVID-19 pandemic, we made sure that the programme implementation was not affected. We are grateful for milestones we have achieved this year especially upward adjustment of average transfers to MK9,000 from MK6,500 per household,” said Kazembe.

Kazembe said adjustment is supposed to happen every financial year but could not materialize in last 3 years.

Other notable milestones achieved under SCT programme this year include transferring resources to councils for two cycles (March-April;May-June)  at once and also implementing a  vertical expansion where SCTP beneficiary households received an extra MK5, 000 on top of average MK 9,000 for a period of four months as part of the Covid19 pandemic response to help them afford basic needs.

Furthermore, all councils received Covid 19 Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] to distribute in clusters in Council's.

 On challenges facing programme, the Social Development Officer, said issues of abuse of beneficiary resources still popped up here and there. “cases of duplication and ghost beneficiaries are some of the issues that the component has had to iron out together with central level team such that some suspected officials in councils have been suspended and will be prosecuted,” he said.

SCTP is an unconditional Malawi Government cash transfer programme which supports ultra-poor and incapacitated households in the country. It aims to reduce poverty, hunger and starvation in targeted households  all councils..

The MASAF IV project finally shuts shop in March 2021. However,  SCTP will continue to be implemented under its successor, Social Support Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP).

Government has called upon Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to be vigilant in ensuring that duty bearers are held to account as they execute their duties.

In an interview with the NLGFC Newsletter, focal point person for the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD), focal person at the Ministry of Local Government, Flemings Nyirenda said CSOs have a huge role to play during the programme’s implementation.

‘GESD is a result-based approach that will incentivize effectiveness and accountability performance of local local authorities’ said Nyirenda.

Nyirenda said the ministry expects CSO’s to take part in holding duty bearers accountable through advocating for transparency in terms of financial reporting and intergovernmental fiscal transfers are indeed being implemented as planned.

"CSOs are expected to engage citizens but also link councils with communities. They are our trusted partners. We believe that by engaging them, communities will have requisite information that will assist them hold duty bearers accountable and in turn get good services," he said.

On his part, National Co-ordinator for Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Boniface Chibwana said CSOs are ready to complement government’s effort in enhancing service delivery in local authorities.

Chibwana said councils are very instrumental in the country’s development and coming in of CSO’s like CCJP will make sure that the project objectives have been achieved.

"We are there as referees to monitor the implementation progress. CSO’s will see to it that rights holders have a say in issues that are taking place at the council," he said.

GESD is a K78 Billon ($100 million) grant from the World Bank. Its objective is to strengthen local authorities’ institutional performance, citizen engagement, duty bearer responsiveness to citizens and management of resources for service delivery.

The project will run for 5 years with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms, Ministry of Local Government, National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) and Local Authorities as lead implementing agencies.