Thirteen government vehicles have disappeared from Nkhotakota district.
Members of Parliament (MPs) have since ordered th council elect to call for an extraordinary full council meeting by Friday October 19 to discuss the matter.
Malawi News Agency (Mana) has seen a letter signed by five chiefs and two MPs calling for the emergency meeting to discuss the matter plus seven others.
“Council secretariat should explain the disappearance of these government vehicles or simply bring them back for visible council use, a) under DHO: MG 520 AD, MG 1229, MG 554, BL 3437, BM 8179, MG134, MG 1376, MG 378, MG 700, MG 1344 and MG 836, b) under District Commissioner: BM 9029 and a Nissan Patrol which we have not captured its details.
“We also need to know the allocation of council market plots so that we understand why some individuals started erecting structures on the public plots.
“Again, we want to understand the management of District Development Fund (DDF) funded projects with focus of our council chamber which is taking time beforeit finishes despite being allocated more funds,” reads part of the letter.
The letter dated October 12, 2018 which started by congratulating councillor Gaziel Chimzere for being elected Council Chairperson also highlights that the secretariat needs to explain the disappearance of MK67.5million boreholes money for 2017/2018 financial year.
The legislators and traditional leaders also indicated inefficient and selective processing of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and way forward of the welfare of chiefs in the district as issues that needed immediate attention.
The document also outlines the handling of Sitima Inn (Kaliba house) lease contracts which they say they fear the current occupants may take full ownership of the property.
“Given the urgency of these matters, we would expect you to call for an extraordinary full council meeting on these matters and that notice of this meeting should be issued in the next seven days. The meeting itself should take place before the end of this month, October 2018.
“Convening of this meeting will prevent escalation of the misunderstandings. We wish you well as you weigh the importance of this communication,” concludes the letter.
Acting District Commissioner (DC) for Nkhotakota Greystone Alindiamao who received the letter on Friday afternoon said he would call for the meeting.
“I will do as advised. However, some of these issues are currently in court and we need not to tackle them now. Meanwhile, we need to deal with the root cause and not symptoms,” he said.
The council chairperson said during phone interview on Tuesday that he had not seen the letter, “I am travelling but I will come back to you as soon as I see it.”
On Friday, the authors of the letter walked out of elective full council meeting after some council members including the immediate past chairperson Thomas Kasache denied them chance to add issues on the agenda.
The document was signed by Senior Chief Mwadzama, Chiefs Mphonde, Mwansambo and Makuta, Sub Chiefs Nkhanga and Kalimanjira as well as legislators Peter Mazizi of Nkhotakota Central and Makowa Mwale of Nkhotakota South East.
