Heavy fines, jail for political gifts publicity

Draft Political Parties (Prohibited of Handouts) Regulations have spelt out hefty fines of up to K10 million and five-year imprisonment for whoever publicises a candidate or political party’s donation.

The regulations seen by The Nation generated debate in Parliament on Friday with some legislators demanding that they be pended for further scrutiny.

Reads in part the regulations: “Any person who knowingly or wilfully publicises any private donation or gift by a candidate, political party or a body for purposes of enticing voters, commits an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to a fine of K10 000 000 and to imprisonment for five years.”

The gifts spelt out in the regulations include funeral condolences contributions, relief items and money or gifts to a religious or political gathering.

Debate on the matter was ignited by a query from Thyolo Central legislator Ben Phiri (Democratic Progressive Party) to Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo on what measures he was taking to finalise the implementation of the regulation.

“It is only then that handouts are not allowed, then this country will begin to progress towards a corrupt-free nation… We need a nation where leaders are chosen on issues and not on resources,” he said.

In response, the minister said he had received the draft regulations and that they would be gazetted before the current meeting of Parliament rises.

But Mvalo rescinded the commitment after Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda and Lilongwe South Peter Dimba parliamentarian (Malawi Congress Party) suggested that the regulations needed further scrutiny.

In a response to a questionnaire on Saturday, Dimba said:  “I was privileged to have seen these regulations. Some of them are good but some are controversial and need to be sanitised…

“For example the prohibition [of publicising] funeral condolences, [personally funded] projects and even provision of ambulance to the constituency. These are quite controversial,” he said.

The prohibition of handouts provided for in the Political Parties Act’s Section 41 was incorporated in the legislation in 2018. However, it has been dormant due to lack of regulations to guide its enforcement.