Jumbe says Mutharika told not to be lavish

Former finance minister and one of the May 20 flops in the presidential elections, Friday Jumbe has said political leaders who met President Peter Mutharika on Thursday at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre advised the  Malawi leader to avoid being extravagant on hard- earned  tax payers money.

Jumbe said they advised Mutharika to implement fiscal discipline and austerity measures to attract donors.

“We advised the President to avoid extravagant expenditure as we are just healing from the cashgate scandal,” said Jumbe as quoted in the local press.

Jumbe, who resigned as president of New Labour Party and decraled his DPP membership, also said President Mutharika was advised against using Cashgate as a tool to clampdown on political competitors.

Leader of a tiny party Petra not represented in Parliament, Kamuzu Chibambo said “the law should take its course” in dealing with plunders of public resources, saying claims of  political persecution in seeking Cashgate justice should be dismissed.

“We talked about Cashgate to say that it is important that the law must take its course because the people of Malawi are anxious to know what happened and by who and what will happen once the due process of law has taken place,” said Chibambo.

Mutharika held a working luncheon with opposition political party leaders who participated in the May 20 Tripartite Elections to discuss various issues affecting the country.

But conspicuously missing during the two and half hours meeting held at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre were Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera, former president and People’s Party (PP) leader Joyce Banda and James Nyondo of National Salvation Front (Nasaf).

Briefing the media after the luncheon, Mutharika said the meeting was a fulfillment of the promise he made during the presidential debate that once elected into government, he would invite all the aspiring candidates to discuss issues facing the country.