Dedza District Council has suspended two senior officers from its Finance Department for alleged misuse of council funds.

 

The officials are identified as chief accountant, Davie Chimtengo and accountant Angel Namaluweso.

 

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, District Commissioner for Dedza Paul Kalilombe said the suspension has been made to pave way for investigations.

 

He said Dedza has been facing financial constraints for so long, a development that has been affecting operations of the council, particularly Dedza District Hospital and that the suspension will help to find out the root cause of the financial constraints Dedza council is currently facing.

 

“It is a concern for the whole district as we have a lot of debts that are unpaid but what has caused this situation is that some of the sectors have been claiming that they have been unable to access their Other Recurrent Transaction (ORT) funds for so long due to inadequacy of funds at the council,” Kalilombe said.

“The situation is getting worse as we are having situations whereby the hospital is running out of food for the patients,” he added.

He said the district council will not do its investigations on its own but it is hoping to get support from National Local Government Finance Committee and the Local Government.

Dedza District Council has been, for so long, accused of misappropriating council funds.