Zomba City Council has announced that the budget it has prepared for the 2026/27 financial year to implement development, education, and environmental programs amounts to K13.8 billion.
The Director of Finance for Zomba City Council, James Mafunga, disclosed this during a Budget Consultation meeting organized to explain the budget to residents of the city.
Mafunga said that of the total amount, K10.5 billion will come from the central government through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), while K3.2 billion is expected to be raised by the council through city levies, revenue collection, and other sources.
He added that K378 million will be allocated to education, K7.2 million to youth programs, K6.8 million to public works, and K4.4 million to environmental activities.
Mafunga also said that following the government’s directive that education should be free, an amount of K80 million has been set aside for all schools that previously required students to pay school funds, so that the schools can use the money for their operations.
However, the Director of Finance complained that Zomba City Council fails to collect enough revenue because some people evade paying taxes and city levies.
Mafunga thanked everyone who took part in the budget consultation and said he believes that meetings like this help to change people’s attitudes.
“Meetings like this help people understand the challenges that Zomba City Council faces, and we believe that if we manage to collect this K3.2 billion, people will see significant improvements.” Dr Chilima said.
Speaking on behalf of city residents, Dr. Clement Chilima said such meetings are very important and called for them to be held more frequently because they give people an opportunity to contribute their views.
Dr Chilima added that he would be pleased if, when preparing their budgets, Zomba City Council does not forget to allocate funds for environmental protection, such as restoring the Zomba Mountain forest.
The meeting brought together various groups, including business people, the police, the prisons service, senior government officials, ward representatives, and many others.
