Africa-Press – Malawi. Parliament is yet to scrutinise and debate the passing of K12 billion additional funding which has been allocated to State residences and the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).
The additional funding is for Other Recurrent Transactions (ORT) for the next part of the remaining financial year. This is happening when funding to most ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) has been drastically slashed, according to the Business and Finance Committee of Parliament.
The committee’s chairperson Gladys Ganda confirmed in an interview Wednesday that the issue of K12 billion allocation to State residences and OPC is yet to be discussed. She described the money as being on the higher side, saying the figure defeats the purpose of austerity measures the government introduced.
“The funds have been allocated there without an explanation. Of all the votes, these got the highest allocation, seconded by the Ministry of Information, which is allocated about K11.5 billion. Other MDAs have cuts,” Ganda said.
The committee chair added that they are yet to discuss the issue. “We, as a committee, are yet to discuss [the issue],” said Ganda hinting that chances are high that the opposition will block the passing of the vote.
“It is better to allocate such funds to sectors like the Wash (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) sector where many people in this country have no access to quality water, sanitation and hygiene facilities,” Ganda said.
Asked to justify the K12 billion allocation to the State residences and OPC, Minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe gave a short reply. “[I] will want to comment and respond during the committee of supply vote by vote,” Gwengwe said.
During the committee of supply vote by vote, legislators scrutinise funding allocations to each vote before passing the vote. Reports indicate that State residences have blown over K10 billion mid-way through their annual budget. Parliament passed K14 billion for State residences as it passed the K2.84 trillion 2022-23 national budget in March this year.
Executive Director for the Church and Society of Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, Reverend Master Jumbe, described plans to provide additional funding as an indication that the government does not care about poor people.
“What makes State residences and OPC deserve all that additional money for the next few months? The funds could better be utilised if allocated to sectors that provide services directly to citizens,” Jumbe said.
He urged parliamentarians to reject such kind of allocations which, he said, raise more questions than answers. “Malawians should wake up now and start demanding accountability from our leaders. Unfortunately our opposition bench in Parliament is domiciled by inside power struggles. This is sad for Malawi.
“This time, Malawians expect the opposition in Parliament to unite and reject such allocations if, indeed, the members of Parliament are representing people in the villages— people who are struggling to access a bag of fertiliser,” Jumbe said.
Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency Executive Director Willie Kambwandira described the development as a sign that austerity measures are for the poor only.
“This only tells you that the austerity measures are for the poor man and not for our leaders. Our expectation was that the State House and OPC would walk the talk by operating on a lean budget while allocating resources like these to priority areas.
“This is hypocrisy and shows that our leaders are not ready to share the pain with Malawians. We are not surprised that leaders continue living extravagantly at the expense of suffering citizens,” Kambwandira said.
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