{"id":4616,"date":"2021-08-23T17:46:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T17:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money"},"modified":"2021-08-23T17:58:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T17:58:03","slug":"malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money","title":{"rendered":"Malawian taxpayers win as govt reimburses K112.7m July 6 \u2018unused\u2019 money"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Malawi<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Some social commentators and human rights activists have said Malawian taxpayers following government \u2013 through the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) \u2013 adherence to reimburse money amounting to K112,719,699.57 that was deposited into Chief Secretary to the Government Account for this year\u2019s Independence celebrations on July 6.<\/p>\n

Both Centre for Research and Consultancy executive director, Milwad Tobias, and Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) director, Michael Kaiyatsa, said the refund bore testimony of the power of media.<\/p>\n

Malawians made rowdy protests on social media after it was revealed through the press that government was going to spend that much in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is good that the money has been refunded. It was wrong in the first place to plan independence celebrations costing that amount. We all know Covid-19 is still prevalent and the economy is in bad shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing lacked the guidance of leadership. Government changed when the public reacted negatively to the initial plan. They have now refunded when media published a story. Where is the leadership in all this? Malawi is maturing. Citizen vigilance is bearing fruits. We must sustain this,\u201d Tobias is quoted as saying by the local press.<\/p>\n

On his part, Kaiyatsa pointed out that without the media exposing and following up the issue, the funds would have been diverted to other things and Malawians would not know anything about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how hard-earned taxpayers\u2019 money is lost in this country. The fact that the refund has happened after a media investigation and public outcry shows that transparency and accountability remain a serious issue in the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a government that is transparent and accountable to Malawians whether the media are watching or not,\u201d the CHRR boss said.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s celebrations were under the theme: \u201cBuilding an inclusive, wealthy and self-reliant through Mind set Change and Servant Leadership.\u201d The nation celebrated the day by having a national service of worship in the capital Lilongwe.<\/p>\n

Nyasa Times has learnt that the actual amount that was deposited on July 2, 2021 into the Chief Secretary Account number 1970000056939 at FDH bank was K238,286,196.00 after the independence celebrations budget was trimmed from K243 million to K50 million.<\/p>\n

According to confirmed sources, it transpired that the actual money that was used was K87 million and not K50 million which was previously communicated to the public.<\/p>\n

In response, Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda who chaired the organizing committee of the independence celebration said the unused money would be returned to government\u2019s Account Number One held at the Reserve Bank of Malawi.<\/p>\n

It has been established that the OPC has at last refunded K112,719,699.57 on August 13, 2021 to Account Number One through cheque number 5702. The money was brought on charge, meaning that the funds returned for not being used by a third party. The OPC confirmed the refund.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is to advise that OPC made the transfer into Account Number One through RBM. You may wish to check and confirm with the Accountant General\u2019s office,\u201d said Shema, an official with the OPC.<\/p>\n

Ministry of Finance spokesperson Williams Banda also confirmed that OPC has, at last refunded K112,719,699.57 to Account Number One at the Central Bank.<\/p>\n

Banda said the deposit of the refund was made on August 13, 2021 through cheque number 5702. Details show the deposit slip has a serial number 381497. The cheque wad deposited by OPC, Private Bag 301, LL3 through M. Mtengula.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. Some social commentators and human rights activists have said Malawian taxpayers following government \u2013 through the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) \u2013 adherence to reimburse money amounting to K112,719,699.57 that was deposited into Chief Secretary to the Government Account for this year\u2019s Independence celebrations on July 6. Both Centre for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8],"tags":[233,371,1921,1922,234],"class_list":["post-4616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-malawi","tag-citizen-vigilance","tag-human-rights-activists","tag-malawi"],"yoast_head":"\nMalawian taxpayers win as govt reimburses K112.7m July 6 \u2018unused\u2019 money - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some social commentators and human rights activists have said Malawian taxpayers following government \u2013 through the Offi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Malawian taxpayers win as govt reimburses K112.7m July 6 \u2018unused\u2019 money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some social commentators and human rights activists have said Malawian taxpayers following government \u2013 through the Offi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-23T17:46:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-23T17:58:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2021\/08\/img-6123e180e1244.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"542\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Malawian taxpayers win as govt reimburses K112.7m July 6 \u2018unused\u2019 money\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-23T17:46:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-23T17:58:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money\"},\"wordCount\":583,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2021\/08\/img-6123e180e1244.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Malawi\",\"Citizen vigilance\",\"human rights activists\",\"Malawi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/malawian-taxpayers-win-as-govt-reimburses-k112-7m-july-6-unused-money\",\"name\":\"Malawian taxpayers win as govt reimburses K112.7m July 6 \u2018unused\u2019 money - 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