MP Musowa says Malawi media misleading on K4bn rural development fund
Mulanje Bale legislator Victor Musowa (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) has said the local media has been misleading the public in their reports on the t controversial K4 billion allocated to MPs to facilitate development.
Musowa said the media reports portray a picture that money was given to individual MPs, saying the truth is that the funds are chnelled through the district commissioners (DCs) who are in charge and not legislators.
Standing on a point of order, Musowa said: “This is very serious issues. We are having difficulties explaining to our constituencies on how the money was really distributed and who owns it.”
First Deputy Speaker Esther Mcheka Chilenje said she would consult Parliamentray Secretariat on the issue as the National Assembly has no control over private owned media.
Despite public outrage in the manner the K4 billion was allocated, Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe proposed an increase of the fund to K6 billion in the 2018/19 National Budget.
In the new allocation, there is a shift in target as it is set to benefit 300 area development committees (ADCs) which will be responsible for implementation of projects instead of 86 constituencies.
Gondwe said the money will be channelled through the National Local Governance Committee and will be duly audited to avoid abuse.
Apart from the K6 billion channelled to ADCs, K20.7 billion has been proposed for rural development through District Development Fund (DDF), Local Development Fund (LDF) and Constituency Development Fund (CDF), and a further K7 billion that could be used on community projects has been included in the budget. This is more than 5 percent of the total Development Budget of the Central Government.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
A very useless legislator of a useless, clueless party. His face and his utterances are really compatible. Look at his appearance closely. What good can come out of this vampire. Nkhope yaufiti imeneyi.
Honourable Musowa, Malawians are not that dull. If you are unable to explain eloquently as to how the funds are to be applied for the benefit of the people, then obviously there’s something the government is hiding. Secondly, people of Malawi know that the prescribed process is that projects have to be identified before they get funding. The government cannot just disburse funds before the constituencies have submitted a list of developmental projects that people need; how much they would cost and how long they will take. It’s just simple logic. There has to be a whole project justification/motivation. What… Read more »
I thought you have MBC which claims it reaches about 98% of the population and that your people should be listening to MBC that Private media which you do not have control. Don’t worry about misinformation, MBC does it all the time..