UK newspaper criticises Mutharika’s ‘luxury’ hotel expenses paid by Scotland
The UK daily newspaper, Times has unfairly criticised President Peter Mutharika and his entourage of ignoring the state of poverty in Malawi by staying in a very expensive hotel while on their recent visit to Scotland – the bill money wasn’t paid by Lilongwe but the host government.
In a story , The Times reported in a ridicule of Malawi impoverishment that Mutharika and his six-strong entourage racked up a five-star hotel bill in Scotland large enough to feed hundreds of Malawi children for a year.
The story has caused angry reaction by both Scottish taxpayers and concerned Malawians. Scottish taxpayers helped pay the costs of Mutharika’s bill in Prestonfield House, Edinburgh, last week.
According to the Times, the cost of just a single suite for one night is up to £450 — more than 30 times the £14 needed to feed a child for a year in Malawi. In contrast, Prestonfield House promises an “opulent individual style that is unrivalled anywhere else in the city”, with “Edinburgh’s most luxurious rooms andsuites”
The Scottish government has been one of the consisted donors to Malawi giving at least £2.7m to Malawi each year as part of its overseas aid budget. Recently they have just announced funding to assist the Malawian College of Medicine make improvements through collaboration with Glasgow University.
The British Conservative Party commenting on the development said “There’s clearly merit in supporting Malawi when it comes to tackling poverty. But quite how putting up a government entourage in one of Scotland’s most expensive hotels achieves that is a mystery. People will wonder about the priorities of this arrangement when such luxury is being footed by the taxpayer.”
The Malawi opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera has been quoted expressing concern about the expense while calling for an end to this type of wastefulness.
The Scottish Government defended the expenses saying “It is standard practice for the Scottish government to host a visiting head of state and their presidential party for their official programme ,The official presidential party for this visit totalled six people and was part of a wider UK visit, with some of the costs met by external partners and the UK government.”
.President Mutharika has been on visit to the UK to attend the commonwealth heads of state meetings, of which he extended his tour to Visit Scotland .
On the travel bill and expenses footed by Malawi government, the President has an austerity spirit.
Are you serious and sure that a Malawian child needs only £14 to eat for the whole year…52 weeks? Hmm.
If accommodation at Tongole wilderness Lodge that is inside Nkhotakota wildlife reserve costs U$D900/person per night (if its a couple U$D1800/night) so u wanted the whole president to sleep in a K10,000 hotel?…next you will say he should have traveled by Bus to Scotland to save money used for the Air travel
Nothing wrong here. Our president deserves top-class accommodation. By the way, Prince Charles moves with his toilet and food all over the world.
aPeter aMutharika tisalimbane nawo , muthu uyu kwawo kwambiri mkunja amakonda ma Hotel kusiyana ndi a Malawi palibe chachilendo apa atsogoleri a DPP amakhala akunja amagirini card ,no green card no DPP leader.
What I am interested in is if the sponsored delegates also claimed a hefty allowance for the whole period even though they knew that they were going to be sponsored.
This shows the limited knowledge of those who are criticising APM, no one forced them to meet the expense and here they are complaining. They are failing to make the arguments which are valid and sound , it seems Scottish have nothing to say or to put something on the paper. You have to think twice before you voice out your feelings. I don’t see any connection, Malawi being a poor nation and him spending some days in the luxury hotel, this invalid and unsound arguments they are only found among those who are irrational and they don’t have soul and its my hope that those who are criticising APM belongs to this category.
Useless article.
No child can eat £14 the whole year, may in Scotland but not in Malawi.
Even here in Malawi I pay more than 14 pounds for a room in a local lodge.
Makape musatitole
The story lacks credibility, its the Scottish govt that booked the hotel for the guests. There is no story here
The is the problem when you are poor, people can say all sorts of things about you. Whoever wrote this story does he really beleive £14 (K14,000) can feed a child a year.
And the President said the trip was successful. The Scottish are crying for their money. Now they see how luxirious African leaders can behave. Indeed this money could have used pay for food for starving Malawians where 34% of children under weight, only 39 US dollars is per capita for healthcare. I can see how others can see the problem. You dont suck your host that like
Apa vuto ndi timaonjeza tokha chifukwa chofuna kupepha ma pounds awo kumazinyozetsa Kuti ku Malawi ndife osauka. pa news mmene amaikila Malawi kusauka ku vets a Chisoni…
l am not a DPP but to be honest I don’t see any problem. He is a head of state for God’s sake. ….. Peter Relax ulibe problem….
Am not a DPP supporter but our President deserve respect.When Kamuzu was using queens paroul which is considered the most expense thing in the world did anyone ask
Then you would have gotten killed in kamuzu era but Muluzi and other folks brought about democracy and freedom. As much as he deserves presidential treatment at the expensive of tax payers and poor voters we could save souls by cost-cutting measures some of these costs and thus humanity. Even leaving Escom its money to put back in the business so you could have lights your basic right and other business could make a profit in this heavily taxed country.
I’m a pensioner retired at a good grade in the civil service and I receive 10000 per month which translates to 120000 per annum 140000 is 8000.
Kodi Pitalayo anachita kuwapempha azunguwo ndimayesa anapeleka okha. Izi ndiye za ku much end basi.
They were hosting a head of state. Chavuta ndi chani. Is it because he is black?
As much as I don’t support Mutharika but I feel this is discriminatory. If this is the standard practice for heads of state from other countries, then let it be for Malawi as well.
Honestly, as much as i don’t like Munthalika and dpp thieving behaviour, but there’s no issue here that a reputable news paper could write home about. What is £450 per night even if it was paid by the malawi government? The issue here is white racism and supremacy, white people don’t like to see black people living or achieving same standard as them. When they come to Malawi or any African country as tourists they behave as if they are angels yet they are very bad people who could wipe out all black people from the the face of the earth if given a chance. The most painful thing is that our stupid African leaders also like to steal from the so called poor African children billions of dollars and hide them into the hands of people who doesn’t respect them as humans. Do you think they could complain if it was Trump? And what is the poor children in Malawi have to do with a hotel charge which is a mere £450? How many homeless people are there in UK who sleeps on an empty stomach and then some fools there think it’s only them and their fellow white brothers who deserve all the luxury in life? We as black people especially those in power should command the respect we deserve as human beings and this white superiority nosense must end.
Seriously people £450 / day which is around K430,000 per day is too much to host a President? When I travel outside which my family I pay up to K200,000 accommodation from my pocket and I do not see how £450 should cause any problems. And Times simply has no facts, they have never visited Africa let alone Malawi and they should just shut up. A mere £14 (less than K1,200) cannot feed a child for the whole year, may be for 1 day in the villages. This article is simply misplaced
Don’t show us here that you have got money…Which country have you been with your family and paying such amount of money(K200000)/night?
Lets just talk the fact here about the whole story
I don’t see any problem with the arrangement…our President is not at fault
So what Ithought it was Malawi footing the Bill! !! There no substance in the story to hell
The host paid after they called and booked for him, so what’s the problem or connection with poverty in Malawi? Even if he could have refused to sleep in there they couldn’t have given him that cash.
Tisalire( mavotavota)
zikomo amalawi ine i am not belong to anya party koma pokha aaa tiyeni timusiyes munthu akuyenera kutero sikuti chose ndicholakwika ayi apa pokha the man derseve that pliz
A guest do not choose the Room to sleep. It’s not Malawi’s Prob, the UK news papers should accept that special guest need to be treated in a special manner.
As long as it’s not malawi paying, asiyeni athane konkho
I very strongly feel that the critics of Muthalika against his busturdly use of Malawi’s tax-payers funds in Scotland must have started in Malawi by the opposition Parties because it is their job to represent the people of Malawi and not the of the Scotland people.To the extent that a foreign country is concerned about the lives of the Malawian people,Muthalika must be ashamed of himself and accept the criticism launched by the Malawian masses jn their daily lives..How would Muthalika and his group choose to live in luxurious hotels,while the people back home are starving,living without power,shortage of medicines in the hospitals is pathetically uncontrollable,starvation of the people is critically unbearable may be they have to embark on eating mbewa and grasshopper.I have time and again,said that the two Muthalika brothers came into Malawi to exploit and devour its resources for their own satisfaction,these two hooligans were voted into power by the misguided and uneducated morons on tribalistic preference.Now who suffer the consequences? You are repeating the fruits of your misguided tribalism.Muthalika has nothing to loose,but the sufferings of the Malawian people.Is Muthalika a Tumbuka?
Utumbuka ukupwetekani. Tawerengani bwino nkhaniyi inu!
Winston Msowoya are you for real? Are you commenting on the same issue or you are still bitter by the 2014 results? Because i know you, you are one of those who will never comment on the basis of loving their countries but because of bitterness, envy and jealousy. So winston, tell me, what was our president supposed to do when he was offered that gesture? winston if things are not going well in your life ngati ukubvutika m’bale wanga osalodza chala wena, just get up and do something for your life, stop being bitter. Si alhomwe amene anakusaukitsa, iwe unabadwa osauka kale ngakhale mmaganizo mwako ukuonetseratu kuti ndiwe mphawi wachitumbuka.
Kkkkkkk komadi. Mphawi wachitumbuka
Don’t be too emotional bro. Read the article carefully. The Scottish government paid the bill as a their guest. Where are tribal issues coming from bru. Take it easy . You might not like the guy but you must read with proper senses. Beside, tribalism was started by northerners, the rest just follow.
Koma azungu apa nde ati onjezeza, koma we have ourselves to blame for promoting negative publicity about country. They need to be told that yes we are poor but we can’t fail to afford a £450 room for our president, that’s nothing , that’s not luxurious for any sensible person
Chimachitika ku uk kunenedwaku ndi chani? Kuyambira nthawi yakamuzu takhala tikumva zimenezi. Malo mumabuka ndikulipira nokha mukachoka apo basi kumatilalatira kuti ndife osauka. Bwanji musamatiyitane maphwando anuwo. Ife kuno mgaiwa tilinawo paja Petulo adakana kukugulitsani ndiye ulipo wambiri sure.
Eagerly waiting to see how the Scottish taxpayers will express their anger towards their government on luxurious treat to apm. Will they organize a protest march and embarrase their guest in the process? kkkkkk basi zibweraniko Commonwealth summit inathatu kalekale
Achakwera munthu supanga waste ndalama zisakuchoka muthumba lako…lol
..so u blaming peter as if he was one paying or Malawi govt…kkkkkkkkkk koma zinazi
Please azungu muzitipatsako ulemu. kodi chifukwa choti a Malawi ndi osauka ndiye kuti President wathu azikagona ku motel? Nanunso a nyasatimes muziona zolemba, and a chakwera nawonso asamangotsutsa zili zonse.
A Chakwera nso a kukhala ngati a misala inu wati? M’mesa expense ndi ya host government (Scotland) nde Muthalika walakwa chani? Boma la Scotland lamupatsa malo ogona nde iye akane kuti “ai ine ndikagona ku Mtandire kapena kwa Chimoka, M’gona or kwa a Piasani” waku Scotland ko. Amatelo? Inu mukapita kunyumba kwa eni mumalamulanso pogona?
No!! tatiyeni tipange Ndale zosonyeza kuti ndife ozindikira abale.
I may not be a fan of mutharika as such but on this one these colonialist need to be put in check this is 2018 and we can’t allow our president to be in a cheap hotel moreover Iam sure even mutharika personally he can even afford that hotel and if the Scottish can’t afford it then welcome to the new century Africans are richer than you ! forget the Dr Livingstone era things are different now. Secondly who told them £14 can feed a malawian kid the whole year? Wrong statistics !!Please malawi media respond to their media and let them know they are wrong and outdated. Kuno ndi kumbali, ndalama zimenezo ndi zathu zomwe zichedwe basi chifukwa thangata azigogo athu anayigwira kale… Shut up!
Azungu akufuna adzinjoya okha. Palibe nkhani apa
Ndalama zawo ndi zimene akudandaula. Akufuna kuthandiza osauka osati munthu amene wabera kale aMalawi
Am not for Dpo but here I find no problem with the President being accommodated in a good hotel. We don’t to allow these White colonialists to continue look down upon us Africans and let us stop the mentality of degrading ourselves. As somebody said already mmufuna akagone Ku malo ngati Kumtandile and the stupid paper finds something to mock us .Let us be realistic you don’t say no to meat offered at a party because at home there is matemba that a spirit of poverty at it’s best.