Achievements

There has been significant progress made in the implementation of reforms. More Public Institutions are embracing reforms and some commendable progress has been made in Ministries, Government Departments, Parastatal Organisations, District, Town, Municipal and City Councils.

Notable reform milestones, among others, are as follows:

Ministries and Government Departments

  • Decentralisation of teachers’ salaries to all six Educational Divisions.
  • Establishment and implementation of Higher Education Students’ Fund.
  • Decentralisation of printing of passports to Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
  • Upgrade of the Malawi Traffic Information System (MalTIS) and has been operational at 4 centres, namely Lilongwe, Blantyre, Zomba and Mzuzu.
  • Establishment of a Functional Internal Audit System to ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2003 and Treasury Instructions.
  • Configuration and integration of IFMIS to all Government accounts.
  • Introduction of Registration of Births and Deaths and Issuance of Certificates.
  • Production and issuance of National Identity Card. Proof of Concept Registration started with 5,856 National ID Cards issued by October, 2016.
  • Ministry of Heath signed Memorandum of Understanding with Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM).
  • Registrar of Business introduced Malawi Business Registration System; and
  • Enabling reform legislations passed in Parliament (Malawi National Public Sector Reforms Policy, Malawi Public Sector Management Policy, Land bills, Energy, Communication bill) etc.

Parastatal Organisations
Parastatal Organisations in the following sectors: Agricultural and Water, Communications, Education, Energy and Natural Resources, Financial, Housing, Tourism, Industry and Trade. Notable reform milestones, among others, are as follows:

  • Toll gate and car park automation at Kamuzu International Airport has been fully implemented by ADL and has increased revenue collection.
  • TEVETA subcontracted levy collection system to MRA and actual levy income has increased.
  • Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) has managed to reduce Non-revenue water thereby improving water distribution network and revenue for the Board.
  • Blantyre Water Board (BWB) has introduction Mobile Billing Hand Held Readers and Printers to enable customers know their bills on site and in good time.
  • ADMARC has ventured into poultry production, grain and milling (flour production) to diversify its production and widen its revenue base.
  • Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) started implementing the Standardization Quality Assurance and Metrology (SQAM) Project in January, 2016. Malawi products will be accepted without further retesting locally and internationally.
  • ESCOM has migrated 22,026 customers from post to prepaid metres against 43,200 customers and revenue collection efficiency has improved from 29% to 32%.
  • Amendment of the Electricity Act (1994) will bring about efficiency in electricity production through the Independent Power Producers.
  • Introduction of Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) by MRA will enhance tax revenue collection through capturing non-compliant customers.

District, Town, Municipal and City Councils
District, Town, Municipal and City Councils covering all the 35 councils; and most common emerging Focus Areas for Reforms in Districts councils are as follows:

  • Improvement in service delivery in Health, Education, Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Services.
  • Financial Management and Resource Mobilisation (Revenue Generation).
  • Infrastructure Development.
  • Local Governance and Decentralization.
  • Environmental Management and Climate change adaptation.
  • Improvement in Human Resources Management and Administration.
  • Participatory planning and Development.
  • Food Security and Agricultural production.
  • Urban Development.
  • Disaster Risk Management.
  • Information Communication and Technology (District Web Sites).
  • Population Growth Control.
  • Promotion of Tourism Sector and Cultural heritage.

Other Notable Reforms
Other Notable Reforms include:

  • Successfully established the One Stop Public Service Delivery Centres (OSPSDC) at Lilongwe and Mangochi post offices. Other places will follow latter. The centres are meant to enable citizens and customers have a single access point to government information and service transactions under one roof, leading to enhanced service delivery.
  • Green Belt Initiative (GBI) was turned into GBI Holdings Ltd which will improve food security, create employment and foreign exchange generation.
  • Establishment of the Malawi School of Government (MSG).
  • Review of the Public Service Act is underway, which will enforcement Meritorious Appointment.
  • Rightsizing the Public Service is underway such that Principal Secretaries were trimmed from 46 to 20.
  • Establishment of Parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances and Public Service Reforms to provide oversight function on the implementation of the reforms.
  • Establishment of a National Planning Commission is underway which will ensure continuity of development agenda regardless of change of Government.