By Wongani Chipeta
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has ascertained to the appointment of an acting district commissioner for Thyolo District Council as it awaits to resolve the dispute around the DC who was deployed to the district, Dr. Medson Matchaya.
A representative from the ministry, Alufeyo Banda, chaired a meeting in camera yesterday over the matter.
Thyolo District Council councillors had written the Ministry last week expressing dissatisfaction over Matchaya’s posting to the district. In the letter, Thyolo councillors rejected the deployment of Dr Matchaya to the district and threatened to take unspecified actions should the Ministry not hear their concerns. Banda said in an interview that the meeting was a follow up to the same letter.
Recently, the ministry’s Principal Secretary Charles Kalemba travelled to Nkhotakota to engage with council employees who wanted Matchaya’s immediate removal from the council where staff staged a sit-in over wages arrears leading to allegations of abuse of office.
The ministry resolved to post Dr. Matchaya to Thyolo after visiting Nkhota kota council where the council employees staged a sit-in over wages arrears leading to the abuse of office. The move is meeting resistance from the Thyolo councillors and stakeholders after they also followed up their expected DC’s performance from the council where he was posted from.
The ministry’s representative, Alufeyo Banda said in an interview that he would report what transpired during the meeting to the ministry, adding that DC’s transfers are handled by the Local Government Ministry.
Thyolo District Council chairperson Sandram Maulana, who co-chaired the meeting, commended the ministry for sending a representative to hear their concerns.
Traditional Authority (T/A) Khwethemule said Thyolo wants a DC who can move the district to greater heights while responding to peoples’ development needs.