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Neno NICE Case Study

  • by admin

The Government of Malawi recognises that good governance is a prerequisite for economic growth and development as reflected in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS II) of 2011-2016[1] under Theme No 5 of Improved Governance. In October 2016, the Government of Malawi and the European Union signed a Financing Agreement for Chilungamo Programme (Justice and Accountability) with financial contribution from the 11th European Development Fund (11th EDF). The Programme focused on the following specific governance objectives in the National Indicative Plan (2014 – 2020):

  • Specific Objective 1: Strengthen public financial accountability and transparency in government institutions and boost public service performance;
  • Specific Objective 2: Improve public service performance and service delivery through deepening of public sector reform;
  • Specific Objective 3: Improve the institutional capacities and coordination mechanisms of oversight institutions;
  • Specific Objective 4: Create a fair and effective legal environment that promotes and consolidates the rule of law, equal access to justice, and respect for human rights.

The Chilungamo Programme ultimately addresses two core Malawi’s governance challenges, namely:

(i)  Lack of transparency and accountability amongst duty bearers.

(ii) Weak accountability institutions and limited capacity of the citizens to demand and claim

    their rights.

The Programme has two specific objectives, each with its own key results:

Specific objective 1:   To strengthen democratic governance and enhance the ability of citizens, accountability institutions, and civil society to demand transparency and hold duty-bearers accountable with the following expected key results:

  • Key Result 1: Enhanced democratic processes through support to key actors including national institutions.
  • Key Result 2: Capacity of citizens, civil society and accountability bodies to demand transparency and accountability from duty bearers is enhanced.

Specific objective 2:   To increase access to justice for all, especially women and the poor with the following expected key results:

  • Key Result 3: Coordination within the criminal justice system is improved.
  • Key Result 4: Access to civil and criminal justice for vulnerable groups in both the formal and informal systems is increased.

The activities of the MAPE centred on enhancing citizen participation in public life and creation of space for citizens to articulate their aspirations, ideas, frustrations and interests thereby contributing to the maturation and entrenchment of democratic values and principles.

The Case Study

NENO CITIZEN FORUM HOLD MPHAMPHA SCHOOL HEADTEACHER TO ACCOUNT FOR MISMANAGED PUBLIC FUNDS

Mismanagement of public funds which are meant for development in Neno have been on the rise. Duty bearers and elected leaders have not transparent and do not account for their performance.  Worse still, rights holders are not courageous enough to question their performance and how they use public resources.

This being the case, NICE in Neno district facilitated the formation of a grouping of Neno residents called Neno Citizen Forum.  In Citizens’ Forum, rights holders have a democratic space to discuss issues that affect their social, economic as well as political life and come up with possible solutions to either reduce or eradicate their problems.

NICE in Neno built the capacity of the Citizen forum in order to empower them that they should be capable of engaging elected representatives and other duty bearers on various developmental issues and that they should be well informed citizenry that understands their responsibilities as far as development is concerned.

Following capacity building that Nice conducted with Neno Citizen Forum, forum members realized that it was their responsibility as rights holders to hold accountable leaders who misuse public funds meant for development. 

Mphamba School was not developing, desks to accommodate pupils in classes were not enough. School blocks, teacher’s houses, toilets, teaching and learning materials were not in a good state and not enough.   The school was in a pathetic state though it was receiving funds from the government which was meant for improving the school.  Neno Citizen Forum members took an initiative to investigate the cause and discovered that the School Head teacher Mrs. Chisale and her Deputy Mr Blau were embezzling School Improvement Grand funds.  They discovered that in total they embezzled K93,000.00.   They also embezzled a donation of money to the school from Mr. Shamu amounting to K137,000.00.  This money was a contribution towards improvement of the school.  Neno Citizen Forum took them to task to pay back the money and a letter was written to them. On 15th October, 2020, the Headteacher, Mrs. Chisale paid back the money by depositing K80,000.00 to the Schools account and later on 9th December, she deposited K50,000.00.

Jonas Goliati, Chairperson of Mlauli Area Development Committee indicated that the capacity building they received from NICE is what empowered them to question the actions of the headteacher.  At first, they were a passive society but NICE enlightened them. Now they are able to be proactive in various socio-economic and political processes.

Mphamba Primary School is located 18km away from Neno boma.  It is in T/A Mlauli, Neno South Constituency, Ligowe Ward. 

LESSONS LEARNT

  1. If communities are given the right information in relation to development and governance, matters of transparency and accountability become easier for them to handle.
  2. Rights holders are key in solving issues that affect them.

RECOMMENDATION

  1. NICE should continue making efforts to promote participatory democracy by creating space for citizens to participate in enhancement of transparency and accountability.

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