If realities are anything to go by, President Peter Mutharika and First Vice-President Jane Ansah have become the first to flout austerity measures to cut public spending.
The Nation has established that the President on Monday flew to South Africa on a trip classified as private aboard a chartered aircraft financed from the public purse.
On the other hand, First Vice- President Jane Ansah is criss-crossing the country almost on a daily basis distributing relief maize to food-insecure households under the K209 billion 2025/26 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response.
While, in the past two weeks, Second Vice-President Enock Chihana, raised eyebrows for undertaking “thank you” rallies. But Chihana, whose office is not officially getting government funding because there is no vote for it, has maintained that he uses personal resources for his trips.
In an interview yesterday, Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi justified the President’s chartering of the plane for a private trip and referred The Nation to provisions of the Presidents (Salaries and Benefits) Act.
Part 1 of the Schedule in the Act states that the President is entitled to “free transport” and other benefits. However, the Act limits private travel for the President’s spouse to three times a year.
But Saidi did not respond to our follow up questions on why the President chose to charter a private jet when, in pursuit of his own austerity measures, he could have opted to fly commercial, which is cheaper.
The Dassault Falcon 900EX, marked ONYX Aviation with registration number ZS-FCI that the President and First Lady Gertrude boarded from Bakili Muluzi International Airport in Blantyre to Johannesburg, South Africa, charges at least $10 000 (about K17.5 million) per hour. The plane takes about two and a half hours to cover the distance, according to information on the operator’s website www.paramountbusinessjets.com.
In a separate interview, Chris Chaima Banda, a former aide to immediate past president Lazarus Chakwera, said a Head of State is conveyed by the State to various locations regardless of destination and business.
“The President is entitled to State security and resources. It does not matter whether the activity is public or private. From the day the President is sworn-in he becomes an institution,” he said.
While the President is away to South Africa, Ansah has between Monday and yesterday been to Mangochi, Thyolo, Nsanje, Chikwawa, Zomba, Ntcheu, Lilongwe and Mchinji distributing maize and cheering up households affected by stormy rains.
Both the VP’s off ice and Minister of Information and Communications Technology Shadric Namalomba were yet to responded to our questions by press time at 9pm yesterday.
However, the minister is on record to have told our sister newspaper Nation on Sunday of November 30 2025 that the VPs’ offices spend at least K10 million for a trip undertaken by road within the country.
In a written response yesterday, economist Christopher Mbukwa from Mzuzu University (Mzuni) said the actions from the top are the reason previous expenditure controls have not been effective.
He said: “Our humble call is that they should set precedence. If the fiscal consolidation path [and] containing the rising fiscal expenditure is to bear fruits, austerity measures will play a critical role.”
National Advocacy Platform (NAP) chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said while the law provides for official transport for the President’s external travel, it does not give a blank cheque.
Transparency is the only safeguard against misuse of public resources,” he said.
In the case of Ansah, Centre for Social Transparency and Accountability executive director Willy Kambwandira said the frequency and scale of the travels sharply contradicts the spirit of austerity measures government has been preaching.
He said there is need to decentralise the disaster response operations, further suggesting a well-structured mandate for the office of the VP that would help curb excessive touring.
Governance advocate Undule Mwakasungula partly backed the local travels, saying that while austerity measures are necessary, responding to emergencies must be a national priority.
In November, the Office of the President and Cabinet announced austerity measures that included a reduction in fuel entitlements for Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and senior public officers by 30 percent.
The measures also include restriction of foreign travel to three per year and upon presidential approval through the Chief Secretary as delegation sizes will be capped while donor-funded travel will not receive any government top-up allowances.
