. Sampa

By MWANGALA LISELI –
MATERO Member of Parliament Miles Sampa has cited the decentralisation policy as a good model to spread development across the country.
Mr Sampa said this ahead of the Africa Decentralisation Day which falls tomorrow.
He said this in a speech read for him by Matero Constituency Development Fund (CDF) chairperson Morgan Ng’ona during a meeting in Lusaka’s Matero Township yesterday.
“Decentralisation is a good model for our country. We want to better this constituency by involving the community and so Matero community hall will be a place where we will meet and teach each other on decentralisation,” he said. Local authorities across the country are conducting various activities to demonstrate their services ahead of the Decentralisation Day.
The Day which is being preceded by the Local Government Week has witnessed road shows, presentations and education activities aimed at informing the people on the services offered by the councils
In Lusaka, the Ministry of Local Government and Housing has been conducting various activities in different townships to highlight significant strides that have been taken in implementing the decentralisation policy.
Lusaka District Commissioner, Ashell Kampengele led officials from the Lusaka City Council in conducting a cleaning exercise in Mutendere East.
Mr Kampengele said going in line with this year’s theme, ‘taking local government close to the people’, the Government wanted to work together with the community to achieve total cleanliness.
“We want to start from the community because we want to work as a team. It has to start from the grassroots upwards if we are to avoid diarrhoea diseases,” he said.
Mr Kampengele advised the communities not to only leave the work to the council alone but should also be involved in ensuring that their townships were in good condition.
Lusaka Town Clerk Alex Mwansa said the exercise in Mtendere East was aimed at enlightening the community that they hold the power to enhance cleanliness.
Mr Mwansa said the community played a critical role as it influenced Government’s decision-making.