By Manasse Nyirenda
Rumphi, Mana: District Commissioner for Rumphi, Emmanuel Bulukutu has said that lack of internal auditors has affected the district’s performance to compete with other districts for donor funded projects such as Governance to Enhance Service Delivery (GESD).
In an interview rcently, Bulukutu said the council has for almost five years been relying central government auditors for audit exercise which has resulted in the council being rated poorly.
“Adherence to auditing requirements is one of the triggers for a local authority to qualify for funding from GESD. We have for the past three years been rated poorly on this component. We were position 4 in the 2019 to 2020 but we were pushed backwards to position 25 in the 2020 to 2021 assessment.
“There is need for the government to employ auditors to be tracking utilization of resources by the council,” Bulukutu said.
He said that he will be signing performance agreements with different sectors at council level to improve on performance in projects’ implementation and sharing of reports with stakeholders in the 2022/23 financial year
Currently the council with financial support from GESD is constructing among others a pharmacy at Rumphi District Hospital, Teachers Development Centre at Old Salawe, police office at Livingstonia.
Construction of the police office is a key project for the people of Livingstonia who currently travel up to 30 kilometres to access police services at Ntchenachena Police Unit.
Councillor for Phoka Ward, Chakaka Nyirenda said the unit will not only enhance security for the people in the area, but also protect Livingstonia Forest from being devastated by people who are cutting down trees carelessly for charcoal making.
He further said the people in the area have already offered themselves to provide accommodation for the officers who will be deployed in the area once the office is completed.
