Mafinga member of Parliament, Hon. Cosato Chumi, has called upon actors to collaborate in addressing challenges that are faced by Local Government Authorities (LGAs). Opening a training workshop on the roles and responsibilities of Councilors held on the 22nd to 26th November 2016, he said that the government cannot address all these challenges alone and it needs efforts from non-state actors such as civil society organisations (CSOs).

Hon. Chumi thanked Policy Forum for coordinating trainings on Social Accountability Monitoring (SAM) to councilors in various parts of Tanzania. Hon. Jamhuri David William, District Commissioner in Mafinga admitted that previously, councilors were trained by PO-RALG on their roles and responsibilities but due to scarce resources most of these trainings have not taken place leaving most councilors unaware of their roles. He further urged councilors to practice what they learned during the training so that they can efficiently and effectively perform their oversight functions in serving their communities.

During the training, councilors pointed out that one of the challenges that they face when performing their oversight role is that they do not have access to SAM related documents such as the Strategic Plan, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

Hon. Zakaria Vang’ota, Mafinga Council Chairperson, said that access to the budget documents is a big challenge in most Councils. “These budget documents are confidential, we are told,” said Hon. Vang’ota. He called upon the government to make these documents accessible and simplify them so that they can be easily understood by the councilors.