When President Lazarus Chakwera presented the State of Nation Address (SONA, I quickly outlined the key highlights of the budget.
I therefore do not want to repeat myself as what Finance Minister Sosten Gwengwe has presented is very much congruent with the president Chakwera’s speech.
For starters, much as the new minister had little time to conduct notable consultations with various stakeholders, there are some positive strides towards the inclusiveness of aspirations of the poor and the underprivileged.
We have been questioning the efficacy of introducing Value Added Tax (VAT) on essential goods such as cooking oil while President Chakwera touts himself as a servant leader. In fact, a servant leader is supposed to serve the interest of the vulnerable.
It is therefore soothing to note that the Tonse Alliance administration has listened to the public outcry by removing VAT not only on cooking oil but also on water. Water is life so they say.
All these complaints from the citizens could have been eluded if the government is proactive in its endeavor.
It is paradoxical to praise the Government for removing VAT on cooking oil when it is the same Government that introduced it.
It was also disheartening to introduce VAT on essential goods such as cooking oil while reducing tax on beer under the leadership of Reverend Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.
Second, there are some over-ambitious statements whose authenticity are reasonably questionable. For instance, it is claimed that 30% of the 1,000 houses being constructed for Security agencies will be completed by the end of February 2022. This implies that 9 days from now, 300 houses will be completed. Malawians are yet to see.
Presenting a budget is different from its implementation. The Tonse Alliance government is fond of overspending beyond its budget allocation amid reckless domestic and international borrowing.
We therefore expect our new minister of finance to ensure that expenditure is within the budget.
We also expect that sufficient funds should be allocated to crucial ministries such as Ministry of Health. It is unfathomable for public hospitals to run out of essential drugs, a situation which culminated into loss of innocent lives.
Needless to conclude that zero tolerance against corruption can only be achieved if Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is allocated with sufficient funds.
All in all, it appears our Minister of Finance Gwengwe, has started well and we expect him to conduct wider consultations in the subsequent budgets.
Send feed back to Rick Dzida, email: rdzida@gmx.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are those of the author not necessarily of The Maravi Post or Editor
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