LILONGWE, MALAWI – With the overall goal of advancing democratic governance, and with generous support from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the United States Agency for Development (USAID), the National Democratic Institute (NDI) developed two guides for public expenditure tracking (PET). The guides are tailored for local governments and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Malawi.   

The PET Guides were developed in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Local Government Finance Committee following consultations with stakeholders from government, development partners, academia and civil society. The Guides’ expenditure tracking methodology, based on global best practice, gathers information to help ward councilors, citizens, and other stakeholders track, analyze and discuss the flow of public money from the government to the targeted beneficiaries. This process includes reviewing how money is spent and whether the money is allocated according to defined local priorities. Tracking the use of local government funds is part of the Malawian government’s decentralization policy, which is called Mphamvu ku Anthu or Power to the People in English. Mphamvu ku Anthu empowers citizens to advocate for their needs with elected officials and local government representatives. Equally important is citizens’ ability to monitor the quality of service delivery and implementation of development projects in their communities.

In partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the National Local Government Finance Committee, the Guide seeks to inform local governments on how to use public expenditure tracking to foster a culture of accountability and transparency in Malawi. Through specialized technical assistance and partnerships, NDI will support local governments, members of parliament, CSOs, and select area and village development committees (ADCs and VDCs) to implement PET. NDI and its Malawi-based civil society partners will pilot PET in 15 councils: Balaka, Chiradzulu, Dedza, Lilongwe, Luncheza, Karonga, Machinga, M’mbelwa, Mzimba, Neno, Nkhatabay, Nkhotakota, Ntchisi, Nsanje and Thyolo. NDI works with more than 20 civil society organizations in the target districts to address community concerns and promote accountability in local governments.   

Interested citizens can download copies of the CSO and local government guides here: https://ndi.org/Malawi_PET_guides.

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NDI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization that has supported democratic institutions and practices in every region of the world for the last 30 years.  NDI and its national partners have worked to establish and strengthen political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. More information is available at www.ndi.org

For more information, please contact NDI Malawi Resident Country Director Sandy Quimbaya at [email protected] or Deputy Country Director Viwemi Chavula at [email protected].