Cama for more spending cuts
President Lazarus Chakwera’s newly unveiled austerity measures have come under more scrutiny with Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) asking him to trim the size of his Cabinet to reduce government expenditure and control public debt.
In a statement made available to The Nation yesterday, Cama executive director John Kapito also asked government to reduce the presidential entourage and fleet of cars on local travel alongside the number of security personnel that line up along roads and public rallies during presidential trips and activities.
He has also asked government to reduce the number of presidential advisers to six and retire principal secretaries (PSs) and directors whose functions are now almost obsolete.
Said Kapito: “Government must also implement comprehensive clean wage contracts especially to permanent secretaries and directors and they should be assigned with smaller vehicles and fuel must only be given based on need.
“Government must also immediately stop the Affordable Inputs Programme [AIP] which has failed to achieve food security over the years. Government must put in place measurable strategies to end corruption.”
Chakwera has 27–member Cabinet while his team of advisers was estimated at 20 in 2021.
But in a written response last evening, Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu justified the size of Chakwera’s Cabinet, saying the Constitution accords the President powers to constitute a Cabinet and build a team to help serve the people better.
He said: “President Chakwera used his wisdom to build a team that he believes will help him actualise his dream for a better Malawi. He does reconstitute his Cabinet from time to time. Let us believe in his dream and give him all the support.”
On Cama’s proposal to reduce presidential entourage and fleet of cars, including the number of security personnel, Office of the President and Cabinet chief communications officer Robert Kalindiza said the call showed that Kapito does not know his limits and is not aware of issues to do with State security.
He also said reducing the number of presidential advisers to six is not practical because the situation in the country demands the President now to have more advisers than before.
Said Kalindiza: “When the principal secretaries and directors reach their age they do retire and government cannot afford to keep those whose functions are obsolete unless he has few individuals as examples.”
In the statement, Kapito also urged government to stop giving import licences to foreign direct investors whose businesses are merely trading.
“Malawians will only accept the pain and suffering as a result of this devaluation if our leaders are exemplary and own the mess they created in their poor economic leadership,” he said.
Kapito also alleged that Malawians are paying a higher price now as a result of poor economic and political leadership by both the current Malawi Congress Party (MCP) administration and previous administrations of the Democratic Progressive Party and People’s Party.
In the K4.33 trillion revised 2023/24 fiscal plan, which has an estimated fiscal deficit of K1.24 trillion, Treasury projects to spend K931.5 billion as interest payment whose debt stands at K12.56 trillion.
Chakwera unveiled austerity measures in a national address on Wednesday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board approved a $175 million (about K295 billion) four-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Malawi.
In the address, the President announced a freeze on all international trips, including for himself, Cabinet and public officers to stabilise the economy after the 44 percent kwacha devaluation on November 9 2023.
He also ordered a 50 percent reduction in fuel entitlements for Cabinet ministers, principal secretaries, directors and all members of senior management of public institutions.
Various stakeholders, including the quasi-religious group Public Affairs Committee (PAC) and Church and Society of CCAP Blantyre Synod have also asked Chakwera to trim his Cabinet.
In the run-up to the 2019 Tripartite Elections, PAC met presidential candidates who separately made some commitments. Chakwera, who was MCP torchbearer, made 19 promises, including a lean Cabinet of between 14 and 19 members. However, his first Cabinet under Tonse Alliance following victory in the court-sanctioned Fresh Presidential Election on June 23 2020 had 32 members.
