Finance Ministry reviewing aid tracking mechanism

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development says it is reviewing how it can collaborate with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to capture their funding on its aid management platform.

In an interview yesterday in Lilongwe, acting director for economic planning and development Adwell Zembere said the move is aimed at ensuring that NGOs disclose how much money they receive from donors.

“If NGOs can hold government accountable, there is also a need that NGOs themselves should also account for whatever they get for transparency sake,” he said.

Zembere, who is also the interim executive director of National Planning Commission, said this on the sidelines of a consultation meeting with stakeholders on development finance assessment organised by the Malawi  Economic Justice and Network (Mejn) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance.

Mejn executive director Dalitso Kubalasa said accountability is paramount both in government and NGOs to change lives of Malawians.

“There is need for all of us to work together because development finance assessment demands that we should be transparent,” he said.

NGO Board finance and administration manager Linda Njikho said that since 2012, a lot of resources from various development partners are coming  into the country through NGOs which require transparency.

The public portal for aid management was launched in 2013 with funding from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).