LILONGWE (MaraviPost)-The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are casting doubt in the implementation of 2022-2023 national budget.
President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse government has increased the fiscal plans with MK600 billion in two years
Newly appointed DPP spokesperson of Finance,Ralph Juma told the house on Monday, March 7, 2022 that his party could not trust again the current regime with budget as they fail to deliver in their first budget.
Juma said since Tonse government came in power the deficit has increased toMK600billion between two years with nothing to show.
He has asked the current regime to create budget that is to create assets.
Echoing on the same, UDF spokesperson in the house, Ned Poya said in quest of implementation of budget without unity in the tonse alliance is a failures to the budget.
Poya said the budget will fail as the Kwacha keeps on depreciating and 2.8 trillion will not be enough to carter the needs .
He therefore asked Chakwera government to listen attentively to the Catholic bishops pastoral letter for better governance.
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-A call has gone out to the government to implement strict measures that will safeguard public funds mismanagement that Malawians be benefit from the national budget.
National Coordinator for Center for Democracy Watch, Levi Liwembe told The Maravi Post that government has been facing problems in implementing of the national budget yearly with claims that of COVID-19 spike impact.
However, Liwembe has applauded President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse government for the 2022/2023 national budget for removing tax (VAT) on cooking oil , tap water, sanitary pads and among others.
He has further said that the only challenge will be on the implementation of the budget.
Liwembe is one of the human rights activists who once joined hands with Bon Kalindo in holding demonstrations against the Tonse government.
Commenting on the same, an independent political and good governance analyst Ken Msonda has asked politicians to hold hands, support the budget,and tonse alliance administration to achieve whatever is in the Budget for the benefit of the nation especially those in rural areas.
“As a nation, we always come up with pro-poor and infrastructure development national budgets but our main Challenge is on implementation because of too much political interference, ” Msonda said.
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.
Gwengwe lauded
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
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse government has removed Value Added tax (VAT) on Cooking Oil and tapped water.
Minister of Finance, Sosten Gwengwe, disclosed this in an interview with the media at Parliament on Friday, February 18, 2022 after the budget presentation.
Gwengwe said government believes that the removal of the VAT will normalize the prices of cooking oil and tapped water which were hiked overnight.
Gwengwe: People ‘s Finance Minister
He has therefore asked the cooking oil manufacturers in the country to adhere to the government call for the reduced prices.
The minister also disclosed that government, when coming up with the budget, prioritized the needs of Malawians especially the necessities.
“Tapped water and cooking oil are basic necessities and as government, we thought it wise to make the revision of VAT for the betterment of Malawians,” said Gwengwe.
This comes at a time when the country Is facing high cost rate in all sectors.
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