MCP says not party to ‘experimenting with people’s taxes’ in K4bn MPs dubious funds

The  main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has changed tune in the  K4 billion “funding by-pass” which was allocated to 86 parliamentary constituencies  before  government committed to  share to all 193 constituencies after it was exposed, saying  party president and leader of opposition does not want his party to be part of the  “experimenting with people’s taxes” as suggested by the Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe.

Mkaka: DPP dishonesty and thievery

MCP second deputy secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka said his party does not want to be  part of an arrangement  embroiled  in “dishonesty and thievery.”

Mkaka said if K4 billion was a genuine development budget, there was need for government to hide the source and the selection criteria of the 86 MPs it initially selected to benefit.

He said the oldest party does not want to be associated with sharing the “mess” created by  Ministries of Finance and Local Government.

Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe insisted the money was from taxes, grants and borrowing and was saved from the re-adjustments of the 2017/18 budget that saw cuts to the development budget.

“So, I told the Minister of Local Government [Kondwani Nankhumwa] that in my view, this money could be earmarked for rural areas. The village or area development committees would decide what projects would be done and people in Lilongwe would give them the money,” said Gondwe.

But Mkaka  said the party earlier nodded in parliament that the money be distributed to all constituencies because leader of had no enough information on the suspicious funding.

“This issue happened within two days and the leader of opposition was trying to get as much information on the issue as possible. That is why he made a statement that he does not want to be party to the experiment that government is making with people’s money,” he said.

Mkaka said: “In plain language, we in MCP do not  want to be party to the mess and that is the stand of the party.”

MCP lawmaker, Juliana Lunguzi, criticised fellow opposition MPs for accepting Gondwe’s plan to disburse the funds to all legislators.

“My concern was that we are going to legalise something which is illegal. We ought to have pressed government to explain where exactly is the money coming from and how is it going to be disbursed,” said Lunguzi.

Meanwhile,  Mzuzu-based governance expert Makhumbo Munthali told Nyasa Times that MCP’s decision has to be highly commended and seen as a positive step towards reversing Parliament’s decision on the matter.

“In the interim it must however be viewed as a mere statement of intent as on its own it cannot remove the decision that was approved by Parliament on this. Certainly, legally accepted processes -which may include but not limited to injunction or Parliament decision- will have to be followed to either nullify or halt the decision or process on this mysterious funding. Nevertheless, MCP’s statement of regret is timely in as far as piling the much needed pressure for the need to reverse the decision,” Munthali  told Nyasa Times.

Commenting on the issue, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) executive director Timothy Mtambo,  said members of civil society commend MCP for realising its mistake by publicly declaring that it will not be part of sharing the loot.

“This is commendable and MCP leadership must be commended for taking such a step,” Mtambo told Nyasa Times.

However,  CHRR boss said mindful of the fact that formal processes have been done to regularise these  illegal transaction the rights body call upon MCP, the rest of opposition, and other patriotic MPs in ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to join the general public in demanding for government to nullify or suspend the whole process regarding to the MPs funds through legally accepted means pending investigations into the whole saga.

“ In this regard, we categorically reiterate that these monies should never be disbursed to any constituency in Malawi and that both the Minister of Finance and Local Government be suspended with immediate effect for putting the country into disrepute,” he said.

In his  closing statement in Parliament at the end of Mid-Year Budget Review, Chakwera demanded that the Anti Corruption Bureau should investigate the funding scandal.

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Owen Singini
Owen Singini
6 years ago

Legally you cannot and never be able to regularise an illegal activity. That is a farce.

Citizen
Citizen
6 years ago

Chakwera koma akanamuuza zoti ndaramazo amupatsa m’manja mwake akamangire nyumba that’s why he mobilised his boys to agree with the decision. Now that the funds shall not be under their control, they think of playing holy? That’s stupid politicking

Listen and Love
6 years ago

MCP has a duty to prove to Malawians that its apology is genuine. 1.Use all legal means available to you to reverse that transaction. 2. Spearhead the removal of Goodall as Malawi’s minister of finance. Goodall is a conduit of tax payers’ funds to dpp . He must have been cutting and readjusting the national budget annually and syphon the money to his dpp grand master. 3. Start IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS against the State President who is happy with corruption at highest level in government and hence is violating the country’s constitution with impunity. 4. Regime Change. Advance for a transitional… Read more »

Patrick Phiri
Patrick Phiri
6 years ago

MCP can go to hell. The money is not for parliamentarians, but the people. If MCP doesn’t want, govt should use DCs or even shadow MPs to spearhead development in the constituencies.

Phwisa
Phwisa
6 years ago

MCP is a very confused party now. I don’t think what Mkaka has said is really coming from the party as a whole or from himself. Remember the issue of Kusamba Dzonzi in parliament who is now waiting to be disciplined by the party. I don’t think the highly experienced MCP can disown something outside parliament when in parliament they voted yes in parliament. Njobvuyalema or Tembo should teach Chakwera parliamentary procedures

Kwacha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kwacha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6 years ago
Reply to  Phwisa

Kumakhala ndi ulemu.

Dodolido
Dodolido
6 years ago

Phwaaaaaa! Listening party. Viva MCP. Abe okha amenewo!

Omex70
Omex70
6 years ago

Bravo MCP! You are the government in waiting and you are giving us confidence that if we trust you with government coffers, our money will be in safe hands unlike today when our taxes are being abused in various ways. How can the whole Minister of Finance use our money illegally to appease those selfish MPs who are trying to suffocate our Democracy? We are ceaselessly praying that God should rescue Malawi from the hands of these crooked people. God should put in place God fearing leaders who will save the nation with righteousness. Blessed is the nation whose God… Read more »

Observer Weniweni
Observer Weniweni
6 years ago

This clearly shows indecisiveness and lack of clear leadership on the part of MCP. It shows MCP cannot make its own decision and changes tune based on the direction of the wind. MCP has only made a U-turn following condemnation from the public on its decision to legitimize the K4billion Kwacha scandal. They have already made the decision and passed a resolution in Parliament to legitimize the loot. How can they turn around and say they are not party to a decision they endorsed with their vote in Parliament???. They are clearly part of that decision and any condemnation must… Read more »

Patrick Phiri
Patrick Phiri
6 years ago

Very true. The issue was in parliament for over a week. Why did it take them so long to make a decision? The same happened with Kusamba Dzonzi’s tribalistic statement. The party gave him a go ahead to present the statement in parliament. It was only after people condemned the statement that an apology was issued. Was MCP sleeping or that’t what it believes? No chance in 2019. In opposition you shall remain.

@ Nachisale
@ Nachisale
6 years ago
Reply to  Patrick Phiri

@ Patrick phiri ndinu opusa kwambiri. This comes to show that DPP is a party of thieves including your president. You mean you can’t see the crime that your government has committed ?. DPP ndikuba palibenso. MCP has realised it’s mistake and has reversed its decision… I don’t think there is anything wrong that. If your thieving president was reasonable person he could have instructed Goodall to withdraw the whole thing in the first place. One day peter, Goodall and Nankumwa will answer to this.. Watch this space

Mwananyanian
Mwananyanian
6 years ago

Big mistake. MCP fail to understand there is nothing compromising here in the moral, or even political sense. As long as no individual does not personally benefit from the allocation, the receiving constituencies will be happy, and this “saga” will have no political traction in the next elections. MCP always miscalculating; no wonder they end up as the bride maids, always! o’Chakera flip-flopping again, when it comes to the tough decisions outside the realm of the church. Governments are full of these not-so-black and white issues: and are you going to change your mind like this, even after soft criticisms?… Read more »

Youth league
6 years ago

That’s the way to go, MCP should not share bed with these DPP thieves, let Dpp reveal the source of the money….

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