The government Thursday declared Dedza and Salima districts as town councils.
Local Government Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda disclosed this in Dedza when Parliament held its first sitting outside Parliament as part of Parliament Week activities.
Chimwendo Banda was responding to a question from Dedza South lawmaker Ismail Onani, who asked the Ministry of Local Government if Dedza District Council would revert to the status of being a town council because the people of Dedza felt that, with the status of a town council, they would have more advantages, including benefiting from development programmes unlike the case with a district council.
According to Chimwendo Banda, the decision to make Dedza, Salima and Karonga town councils was made two weeks ago and that they would be gazetted by next Tuesday.
Chimwendo Banda said the declaration would help the three districts to have accelerated development.
He observed that, in 1978, Malawi’s first president Ngwazi Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda declared Salima, Dedza and Karonga as town councils with the aim of fast-tracking development in the districts.
However, the decision on Dedza and Salima was reversed in 2010.
“Now the President has declared that the three districts should become town councils again. The aim is to make sure that these towns develop.
“When you declare a district a town council, that gives them an opportunity to get extra resources during budget time.
“And when Parliament is distributing resources to all town councils across the country, these are going to benefit separate from the district itself and, therefore, they get more money,” Chimwendo Banda said.
During the meeting, Senior Chief Chauma of Dedza urged Parliament to consider adopting local languages so that people could easily follow deliberations.
Chimwendo Banda, who is also Leader of the House, agreed with Chauma on the need for Parliament to embrace local languages.
He observed that embracing local languages would mean changing the law and appealed to lawmakers to support such a law when it is brought to Parliament.
Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara said the National Assembly was a house of the people and urged Malawians to find some time to appreciate how business is conducted.
According to Gotani Hara, whatever business is discussed in Parliament is for the benefit of Malawians.
Parliament Week started on Monday with a march from to Parliament Building and ends Saturday.
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