Preamble

Following the 2004 Presidential and Parliamentary General Elections and the coming in of a new government, the Department of Local Government, was elevated from being a Department in the Office of the President and Cabinet, to a full Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.  This posed new challenges and therefore led to the redefinition of the Ministry through a Functional Review. This also touched on the Ministry’s vision and Mission as described below.

“To promote and accelerate local governance, participatory democracy and socio-economic development of the Local Authorities/Local Governments or Assemblies”

“High quality, efficient and effective local governance system”

Policies and Laws

The operations of Local Governments in Malawi are guided by the National Decentralisation Policy which was approved by Cabinet in 1998 and the Local Government Act of 1998, which gives the legal mandate.