Alex Mdooko will be remembered by council members as very friendly.
After bidding farewell to the District executive committee [Dec] which is the council’s technical arm, the outgoing District Commissioner for Dowa Alex Mdooko, took his time to bid farewell to the full council which is the political arm of the council during an Extraordinary full council held on the 28th December, 2022 in the council’s Chamber.
Mdooko said during his five year stay in the district he initiated several projects and not all have been finished saying the one to replace him will continue from where he has left meaning that development is a continuous process.
He said he was very grateful to members of the council that during his tour of duty in the district there were no such incidences of councilors coming to close the DCs offices saying this reflected an element of maturity and professionalism, thanking them that if differences arose, they were ably and amicably resolved through proper channels.
The DC therefore, prayed for continued unity of purpose amongst councilors, Members of Parliament [MPs] as well as chiefs and other council members saying their good working relationship is very good for development.
Mdooko said he had a good wish of building a very good team saying this has been achieved with determination and in the case of Dowa a very good starting point was to bring all the council Directors under one roof in the DC’s complex stream lining coordination and collaboration saying this has sent signals to all other staff that devolution is really in motion and is to stay at the council.
He informed the members that he has full trust in his successor, Mr. Stallichi Mwambiwa who is full energy, asking the council members to offer the incoming DC all the support that he requires for continuity of development interventions.
‘’With your support, we managed to improve our Local Authority Performance Assessment [LAPA] ranking from position 15 in the first assessment to 4 in the second assessment and there’s hope to still maintain a good position,’’….said Mdooko.
He said for the first time the council was amongst the 4 that last year got an unqualified Audit Opinion, saying it was also amongst the 4 that won the UNDP Innovations Award to enable it improve the pilot Ticketing System and roll out to as many markets as possible in the district.
Mdooko said the good working relationship resulted in them all getting convinced not to thinly distribute the District Development Fund [DDF] but using it to procure a brand-new motor Grader for the council.
He said all this was made possible because both the technical and political arm of the council shared the same vision and are talking the same language wishing all the council members, a prosperous New Year 2023.
Dowa District Council’s Chairperson Richard Kasanje, said Mdooko is leaving the district at the time the council has registered remarkable achievements one of it being the first council in Malawi to purchase a Grader using District Development Funds [DDF].
In his remarks, Traditional Authority Chiwere thanked Mdooko for being one of the best District Commissioner’s the district has ever had for many years expressing hope that the Blantyre people have received a very important person.
Mdooko will be replaced by Mr. Stallichi Mwambiwa who has been District Commissioner for Mulanje and also leaving Dowa District Council is the council’s Director of Finance Nardin Kamba who is heading to Chikwawa District Council as District Commissioner while Director of Planning and Development Loveness Nkunika-Silungwe is going to Lilongwe at the Ministry of Gender headquarters.
