Urban governance in disarray— report

By Martin Phiri:

Urban governance is an emerging problem in Malawi, necessitating the need for collaborative efforts, a latest report indicates.

This is the main finding in Tilitonse Foundation’s Political and Economic Analysis (PEA).

Among other factors, the report cites competing jurisdictions, incoherent legal and policy framework, incomplete processes of creating urban jurisdictions, political interference and law enforcement challenges as some of the factors fuelling the problem.

Presenting the PEA report to non-State actors (NSAs) in Blantyre, Tilitonse Foundation Executive Director, Robert White, said the research was aimed at generating insights that would pave the way for the identification of proper interventions.

“The ever growing population in the urban setup is not matching with quality of services delivered. We, therefore, want to promote desired changes,” he said.

He added that poor sanitation and lack of structures such as roads had become the order of the day in urban settings.

“Therefore, we want NSAs to come up with creative interventions. In terms of thematic areas, we are calling for project proposals that focus on institutional change, local governance, active citizenship, gender and social inclusion and rule of law,” he said.

Tilitonse Foundation is a grant-making facility that supports government interventions which Malawian NSAs spearhead.