The Dowa District Council has elected Msakambewa East ward councilor Martin Luka Phiri as its chairperson and Chakhaza North ward councilor, Rachel Meke as vice chairperson following the May, 21 tripartite elections.
Luka triumphed after beating former Zodiak Dowa journalist and DJ, Mayamiko Kambewa while Rachel Meke won after beating three men.
In 2014, Luka was first elected council chairperson and served two consecutive terms in the five years of office.
In his acceptance speech on Friday, councilor Luka called for coexistence and tolerance between MPs and councilors for the district to move forward.
Luka advised councilors and MPs to always work in the interest of the people who elected them to the council saying the very same people will judge them after the expiry of their term of offices.
He appealed to MPs and councilors to be good advisors of the secretariat and not always to be the fault finders saying this will take the district to nowhere.
In his remarks, District Commissioner for Dowa, Alex Mdooko, pleaded with the newly elected MPs to ensure that the budget for Dowa is slashed saying this is derailing projects in the district.
Mdooko lamented that for two consecutive years, the budget for Dowa has been slashed by 100 million Kwacha making the council to find it hard in providing good service delivery in the district.
He expressed concern that when the budget comes, it is used to pay arrears for previous projects attributing this to slashed budget which is worrisome not only to the council alone, but all the people of Dowa.
The DC assured MPs and councilors that he and his team at the secretariat are ready to work with them for good service delivery in the district, hence contact and dialogue if something goes wrong for a solution.
