By Blackson Mkupatira
Mulanje, July 4, Mana: Mulanje District Council on Friday held a full council meeting where they elected Mimosa Ward Councillor, Richard Chikhwakhwa, as its chairperson and Mombezi Ward Councillor, Innocent Kaliati as his vice.
Chikhwakhwa defeated the incumbent chairperson, Isaac Blazio after amassing 22 votes as opposed to the four votes Blazio collected.
Whereas, Kaliati became vice chairperson after accumulating 12 out of the 26 votes cast, beating his three opponents, Thokozani Namoyo, Owen Kampira and Beatrice Mlatho.
In his acceptance speech Chikhwakhwa said he was willing to work with his fellow councillors, Members of Parliament, traditional leaders and the council’s secretariat to ensure that people in communities were served diligently.
Chikhwakhwa said he decided to compete after noting that the council was failing to fulfill its obligation of providing good quality social services to the people because its service committees were underutilized.
“As a council, we have various service committees that are responsible for ensuring quality service delivery and spearheading development in communities,” he said.
“However, they have been failing to meet regularly as required because most often we are told there is no money to fund meetings and this has hindered development in the district,” Chikhwakhwa added.
He, therefore, pledged to ensure that service committees were functional and meeting regularly to discuss developmental issues and ways the council could boost its revenue base to fund small projects to meaningfully improve people’s lives in the district.
On his part, Kaliati said he was willing to work with the chairperson to develop the district, noting that currently Mulanje is facing a lot of challenges ranging from scarcity of potable water to poor road infrastructure.
“I will work with the chairperson and my fellow duty bearers to solve these problems,” Kaliati said.
In his remarks, Mulanje District Commissioner, Stalichi Mwambiwa, advised the newly elected leaders to understand their roles and cultivate a good working relationship with the council secretariat.
Mwambiwa said councillors and members of the secretariat often engage in conflicts because they both fail to understand their roles and responsibilities.
“You need to understand that your role is to develop by-laws and make certain decisions while the secretariat is there to implement those decisions.
However, we may also provide guidance and advice with our technical expertise whenever necessary,” Mwambiwa said.
