The National Local Government Finance Committee ( NLGFC) in collaboration with the Department of E – Government, under the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology as the policy custodian, says the world is revolving around technology calling for the need to establish a policy that governs the Local Authorities towards the digital space.
The Finance Committee indicated that there hasn’t been an ICT policy for Local Authorities in the country, but one for the nation, the National Digitalization Policy stating that despite the establishment of the Policy to address country-wide ICT challenges and priorities, significant issues persist within Local Authorities that remain unaddressed.
Following this, an ICT policy for the Local Authorities which aligns with the Digitalization policy of 2023 was developed to address challenges faced at the Local Council level accompanying the policy, ICT standards to help in governing ICT use in the council, were also developed.
Presenting the ICT policy to the Dowa District Council, an Economist in the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology Etakho Mitinda Massah, said the sensitization exercise of Local Authorities is following the document validation sessions successfully conducted on 4th May, 2026 during which stakeholders reviewed and provided final input on the draft ICT Governance.
Mitinda Massah highlighted that the sensitization exercise is intended to orient Local Authorities on the provisions of these documents and prepare them for implementation and adoption saying the lack of specific provisions tailored to the context of Local Authorities necessitates the development of a dedicated document to target these specific challenges.
She said Local Authorities in Malawi operate without clear guiding principles and strategic direction in ICT leading to various operational challenges.
The Economist pointed out that in 2022, a situational analysis funded by the GESP project highlighted several critical issues stemming from the absence of a localized strategic and regulatory framework in ICT.
She said the analysis identified problems faced by Local Authorities in the ICT sector such as poor support and innovation of ICT services, unavailability of ICT projects and programs in Councils, an unconducive ICT establishment at Council level, and exclusion of ICT expertise in the procurement process of ICT assets, systems, and products, among others.
