JB’s son Roy worried with ‘mortgaging’ Malawi through loan bills
Member of Parliament for Zomba Malosa, Roy Kachale Banda, son to former president Joyce Banda asked government to explain the debt record for the country after expressing concern with continued over-borrowing.
Kachale bemoaned that Malawi is “borrowing too much” when he contributed to the debate on the Multinational-Nacala Road Corridor Development Project which seeks to authorise the Malawi Government to borrow $63.5 million (about K25. 4 billion) from the African Development Fund (ADF) for the construction of the 75-kilometre road connecting Liwonde and Mangochi.
“Malawi has had five governments in total, thus MCP [Malawi Congress Party], UDF [United Democratic Front], DPP [Democratic Progressive Party], and PP [People’s Party] and now back to DPP. All these have been borrowing money for different developmental projects with the debt repayment stretching over to as far as 40 years for some of the loans.
“I wish someone could explain to the nation through this House how much we owe who and the duration of all the outstanding loans hovering on our shoulders because I foresee a future Malawi riddled with loans and that does not give hope to youths like me..”
On the road, Kachale Banda wondered why it did not look at feeder roads to the targeted stretch of Liwonde and Mangochi.
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe explained the loan will also improve “some critical feeder roads” in Balaka and Mangochi “while at the same time creating employment through 400 temporary and 100 permanent jobs during implementation of the project and afterwards.”
The bill was supported by MPs and approved.
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