Communities around Chikutu catchment area in Karonga district have expressed satisfaction with Enhanced Public Works Programme (EPWP) saying it will assist in reducing land degradation in many parts of the area along river banks.

Chikutu Catchment Area Foreman Nixon Mlenga was in his area, when a team from Karonga district council went to appreciate progress of the programme.

Mlenga said through the EPWP they have been able to control the flow of water along Kasantha river by among other things constructing stone bands, planting trees and banana suckers.

“This river year in and out has been flooding around this area and many houses were swept away, but now we have seen that the water flow has been controlled because of this initiative. We thank government for coming up with this programme,” he said

Karonga district Liaison officer for National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) Geoffrey Ntengula said he was impressed with progress of the work that has been done saying it will control the arable land that was heavily degraded in the past due to run off water.

“I am very impressed with what this community has done here because apart from conserving the environment through constructing stone bands along Kasantha river, they have also planted bananas that will be used as a source of food and income in the near future,” he said.

Ntengula therefore assured the community that NLGFC will continue providing all necessary support for all five catchment areas in Karonga so that it achieves its intended goals.

EPWP is being implemented in ten districts namely Chitipa and Karonga in the North, Nkhota-kota, Kasungu, Dowa and Lilongwe in the center and Balaka, Chiradzulu, Phalombe and Blantyre in the south on pilot phase with financial support from World Bank.

Story Credits: Andrew Mkonda Banda; District Information Officer-Karonga

Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) project is rolling into implementation. The targeted 28 Local Authorities (LAs) appear ready to meet the Minimal Access Conditions (MACs) for accessing the US$100 million funding.

GESD project coordinator Charles Chunga said, ‘with the funding comes major projects in the districts such as improved and quality water supply, modern school blocks and qualified teaching staff, improved road infrastructure among others. It even means more transparency and accountability in the LA’s through a vibrant citizen engagement model’.

Chunga said GESD which is implemented under the Performance-Based Grant (PBG) conditions, means funding is determined by how LA’s perform while meeting the MACs. The LAs will be scanned through Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) - a tool for assessing their performance to determine if they are ready to access funding.

‘The LAPA tool, among others, helps determine whether LAs have basic capacities/safeguards to manage development grants - to ensure that good performers are rewarded, and bad performers helped to achieve an acceptable capacity level to access resources,’ Chunga said.

The idea is to make sure that LAs access the funding. Therefore, another tool – the Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) which is a process for preparing the LAs using developed or refined guidelines and systems to support them address any identified blockages that might deny them access the funding has been developed. The GESD project wants all LAs to improve their performance and meet the MACs.

For example, during preparation of inventory of incomplete projects resourced by the District Development Fund (DDF) – it was established that a number of investment projects in district LAs are incomplete. Therefore, before starting on completely new investments, uncompleted projects will have to be completed and made functional first. This is not negotiable.

The process requires that the PIP tool rolls into action to drill the LAs. Targeted key areas to prepare LAs include planning and budgeting for completion of the unfinished investments. This will equip councils with skills of developing and approving Annual Investment Plans (AIPs).

National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) recently disbursed MK500 Million under the Social Cash Transfer Programme to the 11 World Bank supported Councils for case management training.

This comes following findings of the Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) Technical Audit Report, which revealed that Councils are not executing case management processes adequately.

NLGFC Social Development Officer, Mateso Kazembe said Case Management is one of the issues that is hindering a smooth implementation of SCTP in all the councils. 

“Case management is a series of protocols, which respond to specific beneficiary circumstances such as update of information, claims and complaints that arise through programme implementation. However, often times Councils neglect these. This inconveniences households and messes up collection of transfers altogether,” he said.

It was noted that poor handling of case management processes was due to the fact that most officers who handle SCTP were not part of the first training in case management. It was therefore necessary to orient the programme frontline officers. Case Management execution is expected to improve following the conclusion of these orientations.

Below is the list of officials oriented per council.

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.