Abstract
"If it ain’t broke don’t fix it", Kotter J. (1995:110). This is the thinking of resistors to change and they prefer maintaining the status quo. It is however said that ‘Change’ is inevitable in life and that those that don’t change are bound to stagnate or fail (Harvard Business Essentials, 2003) in life.
Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, the then president of Malawi, through powers vested in him by the Local Government Act 1998, section 3 & 4 directed that all Town Councils be merged with their respective District Councils. He was compelled by results of a study conducted by Department of Human Resource Management and Development. The study recommended for merging the said councils so that service delivery is improved on the part of the council and operational costs on the part of central government is reduced.
The proponents of the merger thought that it will bring about synergy as is suggested by Henry, (2008:221)… the total output from the combined businesses is greater than the output of the businesses operating individually. However, the research has revealed that the newly established council is struggling in providing its mandatory services to people, contrary to the above stated expectations. Municipal services such as sanitation, road and street, just to mention a few, have suffered quite a lot. It is imperative, therefore that the ministry deliberately engages the district council to review effectiveness of the merger as soon as possible. On the other hand the district council should develop and implement staff motivational strategies since it has been noted that most of the junior staff are de-motivated.