The Malawi Local Government Association (MALGA) has questioned the government’s decision to transfer the decentralisation and urban development mandates from the Ministry of Local Government to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Lands, respectively.

In a leaked letter seen by Zodiak, MALGA Executive Director Hadrod Mkandawire seeks clarification from the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet on the rationale and legal basis for the decision.

Mkandawire confirmed authoring the letter but declined to provide further details.

“We respectfully request clarification on the specific mandate the Decentralisation portfolio at the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation will entail vis-à-vis the decentralisation mandate at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development,” reads part of the letter. “The clarification would be very central in policy alignment, avoidance of role duplication and clashing of mandates.”

Mkandawire further urged the government to revert the Urban Development Directorate from the Ministry of Lands back to the Ministry of Local Government.

“Much as we appreciate that the government may have well-meaning policy reasons for this decision, we would like to draw attention to the fact that the functionality of urban development, by operation of the Local Government Act and Decentralisation Policy, remains with the Ministry of Local Government,” he wrote. “Reassigning the policy mandate of urban development elsewhere will lead to policy alignment challenges.”

During the swearing-in ceremony of 17 cabinet ministers on Sunday, November 2, 2025, President Peter Mutharika defended the restructuring, saying the renaming of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation was intended to ensure “uniform trickling” of resources to the constituency level.

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr. Justin Saidi, told Zodiak in an interview on Monday that the Mutharika administration has devolved central government powers to constituencies.

Dr. Saidi said: “Each constituency will now be allocated K5 billion annually, directly from the Treasury, to promote equitable resource distribution and national development.”

“This will also include direct injection of resources to local councils and ensure that bidders, artisans and implementers of development projects benefit from their local resource envelope,” he said.

However, a governance and human rights activist, Enock Chinkhuntha has backed MALGA’s thinking.

“Issues of decentralization can be better implemented through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development which provides diverse spaces for citizens to participate directly and through elected representatives at council level than through the Ministry of Finance.”

He added that any change to the status quo requires thorough consultations with citizens and stakeholders to ensure that our democracy remains participatory and any possible roles conflict are averted accordingly.