By Vincent Gunde
Dowa District Council’s Chairperson Councilor Mayamiko Kambewa, has called upon local structures in the district that they are a key to supervise and monitor projects which are being implemented by government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) for the good of their communities.
Kambewa said the duty to supervise and monitor projects should not be left to council officials alone but local structures are there on sight seeing exactly what is it is being implemented and can provide reports to the council on the progress being made.
He said chiefs, Village and Area Development Committees need to know their roles in supervising and monitoring projects so that whenever an organization has exited its project, sustainability measures of the project should not be a challenge.
Speaking in an interview on a District Level Dialogue Sessions which brought together council members, chiefs and Area Development Committees held at the boma, Kambewa said such dialogue sessions are very important because participants share experiences, challenges and lessons learnt of projects being implemented in the district.
“The Dialogue Sessions provide an oversight role in the implementation of development window such as CDF, DDF, and Gesd among others,” he said.
Kambewa was commenting on a 5-year USAID -funded initiative, Parliamentary Support Program to be implemented by Democracy International in partnership with Global Partners Governance (GPG) and other partners in Dowa district.
The Program is aimed at assisting the Parliament of Malawi to fulfill its goals outlined in the 2021-2026 Strategic Plan focusing on improving the legislative and oversight roles of Parliament, strengthening institutional coordination for public integrity management and improving civic engagement in policy and oversight.
One of the strategic interventions being championed by the program is to bridge the experiences of MPs, and local development structures in the implementation of Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the initiative facilitates dialogue between MPs and constituents to address challenges related to the allocation and implementation of development projects.
To contribute to the strengthening of local development structures, in February, 2024 the program organized a 2-day constituency support training for selected MPs and representatives of local development structures for participants to understanding local development processes, their legal mandates, and strategies for fostering improved collaboration between MPs and their constituents in facilitating local development activities.
The District Level Dialogue Sessions have objectives of facilitating meaningful engagement between MPs and constituents, raising awareness and understanding among constituents about the roles and responsibilities of MPs as well as the functions of local development structures to promote effective citizen participation in governance and development processes.
