CoST Malawi’s grassroots engagement sparks interest from government and CSOs

| CoST Malawi

In June, CoST Malawi Chairperson Joe Ching’ani participated at a workshop convened by the Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi (CONGOMA). The workshop brought together representatives from across Malawian civil society and government, including the Director General of Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority, Mr Elias Hausi. with the aim of widening citizen participation in public procurement. Mr Ching’ani presented a number of CoST Malawi’s initiatives to engage the public in this area, from its innovative SMS service to participation in radio shows.

The workshop centred around the implementation of a CONGOMA initiative called Civic Participation in Public Procurement for Better Public Resource Allocation (CPPP-BPRA). CoST Malawi has led the way in terms of engaging communities in this area, and Mr Ching’ani drew on this experience during his presentation.

One tool which received a notable response was CoST Malawi’s SMS service, launched in early 2016. Malawians can text a toll-free SMS number to log details of any infrastructure project, whether a road or school, where there are concerns with its delivery. The initiative received an honourable mention at the Open Government Partnership Summit 2016 in Paris under the theme of ‘Making Transparency Count’. It has been pivotal in empowering the public, giving them an accessible tool with which to hold decision makers to account.

Attendees from district councils, civil society and the government expressed an interest in CoST, seeing value in implementing its methods for public engagement in projects across the country. Given that knowledge sharing between the private sector, civil society, government and the wider public is one of the tenants of the CoST approach, CoST is delighted this was put into practice in such a constructive way at this event.

CoST Malawi Chairperson Joe Ching’ani said:

” The decision by CONGOMA to include CoST in the implementation of CPPP-BPRA will go a long way in ensuring that the general public, especially at a grassroots level, are accorded a better understanding of infrastructure projects. 

Construction being a technical area, CoST involvement in CPPP-BPRA will give citizens a voice to  comment on the infrastructure issues which affect them.”

Next steps for CoST Malawi

CoST Malawi will continue working towards transparency in infrastructure by engaging stakeholders across the whole of Malawian society. Its upcoming plans include:

  • Conducting training sessions on CoST Malawi’s data portal, the Information Platform for Public Infrastructure
  • Holding awareness sessions with newly elected parliamentarians through relevant parliamentary committees, such as the Transport and Budget Committees
  • Building capacity with civil society organisations and local councils
  • Continuing to work with partner organisations such as HIVOS, EITI and BEN-Africa