By Vincent Gunde

Dowa District Council’s Chief Planning Officer Emmanuel Sohaya, says the council being number 2 in the 2024 Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) has spoken a lot that the council has greatly improved in service delivery over the past years.

Sohaya said there has been an outstanding performance in Budget execution, contract management and project implementation calling for more improvements by sectors for the council to maintain the best top 10 most performing in Malawi.

He said 28 Local Authorities in Malawi have demonstrated outstanding performance in Budget execution, contract management and project implementation as compared to the past years speaking to itself that all the councils are striving to be the most performing ones in LAPA.

Speaking to the District executive committee (Dec) in Dowa, Sohaya said the LAPA is aimed at providing fiscal incentives to improve Local Authority performance by rewarding good and penalizing poor Local Authority performance.

Sohaya said LAPA is also aimed at providing information that will be used as an input into dialogues and forums regarding enhancing local government financing and institutional performance and service delivery at both the Local Assembly and national levels.

He said the government engaged SP Trainers and Research Consultant to carry out the assessment in councils and this was done using reviewed web-based system, quality assurance was employed at all levels of the assessment and opening the Grievance Redress Mechanism window.

The Officer said in 2024 scores were ranged from 93 percent to as low as 48 percent, Neno District Council was the highest with Chitipa District Council the lowest saying only 3 local Assemblies Neno, Dowa and Nkhotakota scored above 90 percent.

He said Neno District Council has achieved an excellent performance level with a score of 93 percent from 58 percent making it to be the best performing Local Authority demonstrating remarkable progress with Dowa and Nkhotakota coming second and third respectively.

The officer said other notable Local Assembly improvements include Mwanza from 71 percent in 2023 to 85 percent in 2024 and Machinga from 51 percent in 2023 to 85 percent in 2024 observing that 46 percent of Local Assemblies performed below the national average reflecting persistent struggles in governance and service delivery.

“Likoma, Mulanje, Mchinji, Karonga and Chitipa were the bottom 6 with scores below 60 percent,” said Sohaya.

The government conducts LAPA as a precursor for the disbursement of performance based grant cycle, the results of the assessment determine eligibility and the amount of money for Gesp Projects to be implemented by best performing Local Authorities.

By Vincent Gunde

Dowa District Council’s Chief Planning Officer Emmanuel Sohaya, says the council being number 2 in the 2024 Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) has spoken a lot that the council has greatly improved in service delivery over the past years.

Sohaya said there has been an outstanding performance in Budget execution, contract management and project implementation calling for more improvements by sectors for the council to maintain the best top 10 most performing in Malawi.

He said 28 Local Authorities in Malawi have demonstrated outstanding performance in Budget execution, contract management and project implementation as compared to the past years speaking to itself that all the councils are striving to be the most performing ones in LAPA.

Speaking to the District executive committee (Dec) in Dowa, Sohaya said the LAPA is aimed at providing fiscal incentives to improve Local Authority performance by rewarding good and penalizing poor Local Authority performance.

Sohaya said LAPA is also aimed at providing information that will be used as an input into dialogues and forums regarding enhancing local government financing and institutional performance and service delivery at both the Local Assembly and national levels.

He said the government engaged SP Trainers and Research Consultant to carry out the assessment in councils and this was done using reviewed web-based system, quality assurance was employed at all levels of the assessment and opening the Grievance Redress Mechanism window.

The Officer said in 2024 scores were ranged from 93 percent to as low as 48 percent, Neno District Council was the highest with Chitipa District Council the lowest saying only 3 local Assemblies Neno, Dowa and Nkhotakota scored above 90 percent.

He said Neno District Council has achieved an excellent performance level with a score of 93 percent from 58 percent making it to be the best performing Local Authority demonstrating remarkable progress with Dowa and Nkhotakota coming second and third respectively.

The officer said other notable Local Assembly improvements include Mwanza from 71 percent in 2023 to 85 percent in 2024 and Machinga from 51 percent in 2023 to 85 percent in 2024 observing that 46 percent of Local Assemblies performed below the national average reflecting persistent struggles in governance and service delivery.

“Likoma, Mulanje, Mchinji, Karonga and Chitipa were the bottom 6 with scores below 60 percent,” said Sohaya.

The government conducts LAPA as a precursor for the disbursement of performance based grant cycle, the results of the assessment determine eligibility and the amount of money for Gesp Projects to be implemented by best performing Local Authorities.

By Vincent Gunde

Dowa District Council’s Chief Planning Officer Emmanuel Sohaya, says the council being number 2 in the 2024 Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) has spoken a lot that the council has greatly improved in service delivery over the past years.

Sohaya said there has been an outstanding performance in Budget execution, contract management and project implementation calling for more improvements by sectors for the council to maintain the best top 10 most performing in Malawi.

He said 28 Local Authorities in Malawi have demonstrated outstanding performance in Budget execution, contract management and project implementation as compared to the past years speaking to itself that all the councils are striving to be the most performing ones in LAPA.

Speaking to the District executive committee (Dec) in Dowa, Sohaya said the LAPA is aimed at providing fiscal incentives to improve Local Authority performance by rewarding good and penalizing poor Local Authority performance.

Sohaya said LAPA is also aimed at providing information that will be used as an input into dialogues and forums regarding enhancing local government financing and institutional performance and service delivery at both the Local Assembly and national levels.

He said the government engaged SP Trainers and Research Consultant to carry out the assessment in councils and this was done using reviewed web-based system, quality assurance was employed at all levels of the assessment and opening the Grievance Redress Mechanism window.

The Officer said in 2024 scores were ranged from 93 percent to as low as 48 percent, Neno District Council was the highest with Chitipa District Council the lowest saying only 3 local Assemblies Neno, Dowa and Nkhotakota scored above 90 percent.

He said Neno District Council has achieved an excellent performance level with a score of 93 percent from 58 percent making it to be the best performing Local Authority demonstrating remarkable progress with Dowa and Nkhotakota coming second and third respectively.

The officer said other notable Local Assembly improvements include Mwanza from 71 percent in 2023 to 85 percent in 2024 and Machinga from 51 percent in 2023 to 85 percent in 2024 observing that 46 percent of Local Assemblies performed below the national average reflecting persistent struggles in governance and service delivery.

“Likoma, Mulanje, Mchinji, Karonga and Chitipa were the bottom 6 with scores below 60 percent,” said Sohaya.

The government conducts LAPA as a precursor for the disbursement of performance based grant cycle, the results of the assessment determine eligibility and the amount of money for Gesp Projects to be implemented by best performing Local Authorities.