All MPs to share K4bn equally: Malawi govt pressed to disclose source for ‘suspicious funding’
Members of Parliament (MPs) are demanding Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe to disclose the source of K4 billion initially earmarked for development in 86 constituencies belonging to government legislators and others associating with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as it is not appearing in the budget.
Leader of the House, Kondwani Nankhumwa, who is also Minister of Local Government and Rural Development on Tuesday announced in Parliament that government will share the K4 billion to all 193 constituencies.
Nankhumwa said both sides of the House have declared to distribute the money equally across the board.
“This means each and every constituency will get K20.7 million,” Nankhumwa said.
He said there was some “total misunderstanding” arising from “misrepresentation of facts” on the rural development resources.
“In the first place, the picture which was put outside there was as if the money had already been shared and spent, while in the actual sense, the money is just here in the budget presented to the members of parliament for them to approve or disapprove,” said Nankhumwa.
He added that the issue would be taken back to the drawing board and also that the funds would be shared to constituencies not in phases, but all at once, for all members to benefit.
The announcement followed pressure from the opposition members who questioned the criteria for selecting beneficiaries.
But Nankhumwa said money will be sent released according to the project of presentation of the member of parliament in consultation with his area development committee.
“This is within the set up of the government and public finance regulations,” he said.
But People’s Party (PP) leader in the House pressed Finance Minister to first explain the source of the money before distributing.
And Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Alekeni Menyani, who is also Dedza North West MP (Malawi Congress Party – MCP) said the country’s purse-keeper is abusing the tax-payers funds.
Government reportedly wanted the fund to be shared “ secretly” but Malawi News on Saturday exposed that K3.4 billion was allocated to 86 MPs who voted against the Electoral Reforms Bills in December, translating to K40 million per beneficiary constituency.
Gondwe told the House that in the course of our reviewing the budget, the fiscal chief “came across resources of that magnitude and we thought they should really go towards rural development and I asked my colleague, the Minister of Local Government, to find out how this could be used.”
The Finance Minister said Minister Nankhumwa went around asking Members of Parliament.
“Some of you probably weren’t asked but he did ask and 86 of them or so were offered small projects in their constituencies.
“If we find to be not sufficient, we can call that first phase and we will come to you again, but the point that it is true; I don’t want to deny that I have told you the reason why it came about. The reason is that we wanted the extra resources that we had to be used in rural areas,” he said.
Earlier, legislators had demanded resignation of Gondwe for “failure to execute his duties” by spending the K4 billion without Parliament’s authority.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Our country is polluted… As citizen we need to rise up and stop this pollution.. Otherwise we will suffocate for good.
Esh!Am speechless,K20M,what can we do with this amount of money.Going to buy a 2 bedroom house then we call it a development lol
Kajoloweka, I expect you to visit the courts asap – like you have done before. May God protect each step you take son.
Didnt know Gondwe was such a clap and a nuisance thief.
What impact can 20 million kwacha chitukuko per constituency have. Koma pa Malawi.
Better channel the said 4 billion kwacha to buying drugs for the hospitals
Chibwana chanchombo lende, basi kudzuka ndikungoganiza kuti tigawane ndalama zachitukuko hahahaha boma iloooooooo
Opposition MPs that didn’t benefit from the loot should know they have been cheated here, because the 86 MPs their projects which they choose costing 40Million kwacha each will be funded secretly, and those Opposition MPs that were Left out, will just be given the 20Million kwacha project.
As to where they will get the other half for the 86 Mps, it will be through the same means they used at first.
Aphungu athu akuoneka kuti abalalika ku Parliament. Zoona sharing K4b for what sense? I find this to be very disturbing, kenako adzatiuza kuti boma likufuna lizimanga ziriza kapena matcahalitchi m’midzi mwathumu. Irrelevant development and yet ana akuphunzira pansi pamtengo. There is no way money can be distributed equally to all 193 constituencies
“Your skills are what you put in yesterday. Commitment is what you must put in today in order to make today your masterpiece and make tomorrow a success.” John C. Maxwell, in “Make Today Count”.. But what are our leaders doing.. they are happily killing the future of our country.. I DO NOT HAVE ANY BETTER WORDS FOR THEM ALL… If it was seed I would have said let us roast it all and grind it, coz it is a toxic and it is killing us and it will continue killing our children if we keep it… MY MALAWI RISE… Read more »
How do you have excess funds when there is a budget deficit due to under-collection by MRA and reduced donor funding?
If a whole Minister of Finance can’t explain the source of K4billion from a total budget of K1trillion then we have to ask whether we have the right person in the job. It also begs the question as to whether the opposition go through the budget presented to them line by line because if they did it would have been obvious that the K4billion was diverted from other sources fraudulently. My theory is that some of the opposition MP’s have also benefits from the loot and thats why they face the other way. The ones that are making noise are… Read more »
This government is stealing from us people we do don’t see that this APM is just like Zuma