Other notable reforms
Other notable reforms include Legal Policy Reforms, Public Private Partnership, Public Private Partnership, Malawi School of Government, Financial Sustainability, Tobacco Commission and Northern Region Water Board. .
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Legal and policy Reforms
Malawi School of Government (MSG)
Parliament passed legislation to merge Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) and Staff Development Institute (SDI) popularly known as Mpemba into the Malawi School of Government (MSG) to enhance leadership and management skills for the effective management of government institutions and to promote responsible behaviour and productive work culture.
With the coming into effect of the MSG Act, the School will be offering Mandatory Leadership Induction, Refresher and Promotional Courses tailored for the Malawi public service.
It has been the goal of public sector reforms to encourage institutions such as MIM to become self-sustainable and free up resources in the government coffers for other equally crucial sectors such as health and education.
The MSG legislation has emphasised the new School will expect the government to pay for its services so that it is able to deliver quality education and professional development.
Public Private Partnership
The new PPP Act (2022) has provided for the sustainability of the PPP Commission in that there will be a PPP Financing Fund and a levy to be paid by private investors after being offered the opportunity to implement a PPP project. It is through the fund that resources will be available for further project development.
The new Act has also addressed the lack of a systematic approval process for PPP arrangements which affected implementation timeframes for PPP projects. This process will be expedited to involve the MDAs so that the PPPC initiates implementation of only those proposed PPP projects approved and included in the Public Sector Investment Plan (PSIP).
With the new law, there is now improved process for unsolicited bids that is expedited and that which incentivizes the private sector to come up with solutions to challenges affecting public sector service delivery.
One Stop Border Post
The OSBP Act (2022) willoperationalise the One Stop Border Post concept to reduce the number of stops in cross border transactions.
The Ministry of Trade set the expansion of domestic and international market share for Malawian products and services as its reformarea whose outcome would be improved and conducive business environment to trade and private sector development.
The legislation will operationalise the establishment of One Stop Border Posts at border crossings in Mchinji, Dedza, Mwanza and Songwe in Karonga for a start.
The new legislation is meant to address challenges of insufficient border infrastructure, poor Information Communication Technology (ICT) facilities, inadequate skills in classification of goods and presence of multiple border agencies working in isolation.
Financial sustainability
MDAs were encouraged to implement reform areas that would improve the financial status of the organisations. These are reforms that would reduce wastage and operational costs through cleaning up the payroll and wage bill; increase revenue generation and enhance revenue streams that would contribute to improving service delivery.
Tobacco Commission
The parastatal remitted to Treasury 20 percent of its K325 million surplus from the 2021/22 financial year after implementing its reform areas aimed enhancingbudgetary control mechanisms, producing periodic financial reports, carrying out regular reconciliations and retiring staff upon attaining retirement age.
Lilongwe Water Board
The Board recorded a K1 billion profit in the 2020/21 financial year through various Reform initiatives, among them the reduction of non-revenue water, the expansion of bill payment platforms for customers and the automated e-madziwater kiosks for the peri-urban areas in Lilongwe City. LWB has increased its financial base while easing pressure on central government resources and the need for bailout in future. With the expansion of bill payment platforms, reduced corruption and pilferage is expected.
Northern Region Water Board
The Board has invested in solar power at its Mzuzu Water Treatment Plant and MBC Booster Station, Katawa Booster Station, Lunyangwa Booster, New Ekwendeni Treatment Plant and Kawiluwilu House with the aim of reducing energy costs for pumping water and the savings will be used to invest in projects aimed at increasing access to water supply in hard to reach areas in the northern region.
Click to view achievements in the implementation of other notable reforms