Councillors vote for transfer of Dowa DC

Councilors’ in Dowa have overwhelmingly agreed to remove Dowa District Commissioner, Fanny Msimuko during their extra- ordinary council meeting.

Now the decision on whether she should be reporting for duties rests in the hands of Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

At the meeting which was attended by Deputy Director in the ministry of Local government, responsible for local authorities, Mr. Douglas Mkweta, the ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Mushawase Muwowo and president of Malawi Local Government Association(MALGA) ON wEDNESDAY, 9 sEPTEMBER, 2015 attracted some members supported the transfer of the DC while others were against it.

This situation forced council members to vote on whether to retain Msimuko as Dowa DC or not.

The chiefs in the district opted for neutrality while MPs chose to be absent from the voting process.

Out of 11 councilors ten voted for the DC’s departure with one voting against it.

During last week’s meeting, outspoken Kayembe ward councilor, Simeon Nyemba, made it clear that councilors in the district had no confidence in the DC and maintained their stand to remove her in yesterday’s meeting.

On his part, Dowa West parliamentarian, Alexander Kusamba Dzonzi, said MP’s in the district cannot support the councilor’s decision because it was made before consulting council members at a full council meeting.

During the meeting with the DC the councilors said openly that as of 31st August, 2015, they stopped recognizing Msimuko as Dowa DC due to her poor leadership and staying in the capital Lilongwe among other reasons.

In the same meeting, chiefs in Dowa asked Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to remove 9 Sub Traditional Authorities who were elevated during Peoples’ Party leadership.

The chiefs said the 9 do not respect them and are creating confusions among their subjects thereby derailing development of the district.

T/A Mponela said out of the 22 Sub Traditional Authorities elevated, 9 are from Dowa alone showing that their elevations were made on the advancement of party politics.

On her part, T/A Kayembe said the chiefs are not happy with their honoraria allowance and transport re-imbursement after attending government functions in the district.

“I use 20 L of fuel to drive from my headquarters to Dowa boma only to see that the council re-reimburses 12 L of fuel.