Lunguzi throws kitchen sink at Goodall over ‘botched cosmetic job’ on Malawi budget

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Dedza East, Juliana Lunguzi had no kind words for the Peter Mutharika administration when she critiqued the proposed 2015/16 National Budget, saying the financial plan has failed the litmus test.

Lunguzi told the House that the litmus test for the Budget was to pass s a feasible plan for the future, both in the short and long terms.

She said the budget needed to have strong indications that it will create jobs, promote a culture of savings and investment, and boost productivity; to turbo-charge confidence for the years and decades ahead.

“This budget needed to restore hope; but it fails,” said Lunguzi.

She stated that any pretence by the Mutharika government that the 2015/16 Budget is in any way remedial to the Malawian economy is “a hoax, a fallacy and insult to the tax-payers.”

The MCP lawmaker also trashed Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe and President Mutharika’s assertions that the budget promise to propel Malawi to economic growth.

Lunguzi also stated that the budget does not set Malawi on a roadmap from subsistence to production.

Furthermore, the budget does not factor in the opportunities and threats challenges brought about by the digital age and global village.

“Does it [the budget] change our engagement with our neighbours and development partners towards trade and not aid? NO.

“Is it capable of boosting wealth creation at household level; Can it advance equal treatment for women and young people; Can it tackle climate change? The answers are all NOs,” said Lunguzi.

She described the budget as “nothing but a botched cosmetic job by a very desperate make-up artist.”

The budget, Lunguzi observed, “Misses, by a wide margin, the challenges that are defining quality of life in the 2020s.”

She said Malawians deserve a “worthwhile budget” that matches the priorities of the nation.

Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe said during pre-budget consultations that the budget will be shrunk and will be an intellectual budget that will be difficult to sell to Malawians, including MPs.