Malawi govt adamant over K4bn: Bamusi says development fund will be disbursed

Government says it will not rescind its decision to give out K20.7 million to each of the 193 constituencies in the country, saying Finance minister Goodall Gondwe has not violated any law.

Speaking during Views Triangle program on Zodiak, presidential aide on NGOs Mabvuto Bamusi said the K4 billion set aside for the development projects at constituency level will have a positive impact on the
country’s development agenda.

“It is therefore surprising that some civil society organisations want to make protest matches over the issue, they want Honourable Gondwe to resign, this is surprising because this fund to benefit the poorest of the poor in the most remote areas of the country,” he said.

The presidential aide  therefore said that Gondwe would not resign because he never violated  the law, saying the finance minister brought his proposal to parliament which was unanimously approved.

Bamusi, who attended the meeting between Gondwe and some civil society groups on Friday in Lilongwe, said the Finance minister was very eloquent and gave the civil society leaders all details on the K4bn issue.

One of the civil society leaders, Billy Banda, was kicked out of the meeting by his fellow civil society leaders who regard him as a Democratic Progressive Party stooge.

In the same Views Triangle program aired on Sunday night, Timothy Mtambo, of CHRR said the K4bn was another form of cashgate.

“We asked the minister of Finance why couldn’t the government use the existing constituency development fund or the district development fund to channel the money for the development but we never got satisfactory answers.

“The minister told us the government is not trusting councils because they abuse government money and there is corruption in councils. Instead, the minister said they would channel the money direct to  contractors, I think this is more prone to abuse of money and corruption,” said Mtambo.

George Mnesa of Mafunde party told the program that the government has no option but discontinue with the program, saying the majority of Malawians feel that was not the right way to channel money for development.

Mnesa therefore said parliament should reconvene for an emergency meeting in order to stop the disbursement of the money to area development committees.