Catholic body demands Goodall’s head as CSOs say time for Malawians to reclaim destiny

As the civil society organisations seven day ultimatum for Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development
Goodall Gondwe to resign following his role in the  K4 billion constituency development fund has expired, ‘the governance arm of the influential Catholic Church has added its voice to demand the fiscal chief to step down.

The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) said it noted with concern government’s misallocation of the public funds to the legislators.

CCJP is also calling on President Peter Mutharika to take  appropriate action against the Finance Minister.

In a statement, CCJP said the K4 billion payout to members of Parliament is both “unethical and immoral”.

The body said the way the fund has been handled, it “raises a lot if questions on the integrity and committee Ntaba to good governance by the current regime.”

But  the Finance minister is still clinging to his job and has the backing of State House.

Gondwe is currently consulting the public sector, the private sector, the academia and others over the 2018/19 national
budget.

He has challenged those  making the demands of his resignation, saying unless they prove to him he committed a crime he would not abdicate his office.

The minister could not be drawn to comment on the expiry of the ultimatum by the CSOs, saying he already dealt with the matter when he met the CSO leadership in Lilongwe on Friday.

He told the CSOs that he would not resign because he followed the law to the latter when he brought to parliament the issue of K4 billion and parliament unanimously approved it.

CSOs argue that the K4 billion allocation is illegal and not in  the best interest of Malawians , hence the need to immediately cancel it.

However, spokesperson for the CSOs on the K4 billion, Timothy Mtambo of Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) said time to worship impunity is over.

He said the protests will mark the process of Malawians to reclaim their destiny.

”The time for impunity worshiping is over. We have massaged evil for so long. The honeymoon is over,” said tough-talking Mtambo.

He said the CSOs would be looking on how best to mobilise people to demonstrate against the K4 billion and   to force Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe and his counterpart Kondwani Nankhumwa to resign from the Cabinet, an issue that has polarized the nation

Presidential aide on NGOs Mabvuto Bamusi said it is a waste of time and money for the CSOs to mobilise people to make protest matches when the finance minister has explained fully on how the government would ensure that the money is not abused.

Gondwe said the money will go direct to contractors who will be working on unplanned development projects.

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