Zomba City Council has been operating for about three years without a strategic plan, a situation which has greatly affected the council’s operations.

The last five-year-strategic plan for the council expired in 2015.

This was revealed at a meeting organized by the council and other stakeholders from Zomba on Wednesday which was meant to develop a new strategic plan.

Director of Administration who is also acting Chief Executive Officer for Zomba City Council, Mussa Mwale said the absence of a strategic plan has affected the council’s operations.

“There was a gap in terms of our vision, mission, strategies and also the targets to be meet. All along what is means probably is we have been implementing only yearly plans and these yearly plans are not quite effective because they don’t take you far,” he said.

“We think the strategic plan is a much longer plan which I think will take the council to another level.”

Mwale has however said the meeting is going to assist the council to have an effective strategic plan which will go a long way to the growth of the city.

Director of Bwalo Initiative Rodgers Kaunda described the document as ‘very important’.

“If at all they will take it to extend that it should be integrated it might be in a position to assist the city so that the citizens themselves they have to be involved,” he added.

Once discussions are finalized with all concerned parties, Zomba City council will implement a 5 year strategic plan that will run from 2018 to 2023.