Democracy Works Foundation (DWF) has disclosed that lack of information on legislations that guide the provision of services in sectors such as water and energy is one of the key factors leading to unfulfilled promises by politicians in the country.
This was disclosed in Lilongwe at the technical reference group meeting where stakeholders such as political parties, Civil Society organizations and Energy and Water experts were discussing policy and service delivery issues in the sectors of water and energy.
Speaking to Malawi24, Democracy Works Foundation Malawi country Director Enettie M’buka said that some politicians make promises without having technical knowledge on processes and laws followed in the provision of the said services, a situation that has seen some communities not to being able to access safe water and clean energy.
“We did our political economy analysis and we did capacity assesment and we found out that most of times within our political parties there is lack of knowledge and understanding of what laws, what legislation govern the provision of these services to the extent that sometimes even political parties want to go and drill boreholes they will just drill boreholes anywhere without knowing whether there is a water table and the like.
“So you find out there are a lot of boreholes but they are not functioning and no one is being held accountable and people are suffering,” she said
She added that it is important that the discussions with political parties continue.
“If political parties want to represent effectively they need understand the legislation, the system and they need to understand what it takes for them to provide these services efficiently and effective,” said M’buka.
In his remarks, United Democratic Front Secretary General, Kandi Padambo, who also chairs the reference group, said such interface will help politicians avoid making impossible promises during campaign.
“It’s very true that people who are elected into positions of power are elected because of some kind of trust that the electorate poses in them but it does not necessarily mean that they have to be experts on the various important sectors.
“So it is very important that our experts who have got that knowledge and that information should be brought together on a platform where politicians, experts meet and discuss issues pertaining to the management of water and energy,” said Padambo.
The interface brought together water and energy experts, the academia and all political parties represented in Parliament to share knowledge so that water and energy promises should be made out of clear understanding.
