Malawi MPs force House to adjourn budget debate over loans: DPP lawmakers also need advance

Malawi Parliament on Tuesday morning  grinded to a halt when lawmakers  forced first deputy speaker Esther  Mcheka Chilenje to suspend  the House for 45 minutes  to allow the welfare committee to discuss  on the General Purpose Fund (GPF).

The members demanded clarifications on their conditions of service to have their access to General Purpose Advance.

Parliamentarians warned they will only continue with deliberations of the K1 trillion national budget  if Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Goodall Gondwe makes a statement.

MPs from both ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), opposition and independents want Treasury to give them GPF loans of K5 million each which they are supposed to repay between now and 2019.

The loans are obtained from commercial banks with government acting as collateral. The legislators get a 90 percent interest subsidy which the taxpayer foots and another 50 percent subsidy on the principal amount.

The MPs argue the loan facility is part of their privileges in their conditions of service.

Treasury Secretary Ronald Mangani informed  the Speaker informing him that Malawi government has over K2 billion arrears with the commercial banks for Members of Parliament personal vehicle loans and cannot extend more loans to MPs.