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House sits Monday for budget review

The National Assembly resumes sitting on Monday next week to review the 2014/15 National Budget.

The House is also expected to consider confirming the Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service (MPS), adjust the marriage age and providing more autonomy to the central bank.

  Parliament is expected to review the budget
Parliament is expected to review the budget

During the meeting, parliamentarians will also consider a proposal from the Executive to create a loan scheme which could be used by students that fail to access higher education due to lack of resources.

Confirming this in an interview on Wednesday, Leader of the House, Francis Kasaila, said the other business will include a bill to curb human trafficking, several loan authorisation bills, getting reports from standing and select committees of the House and statements from Cabinet ministers.

 Gondwe to give an update  on budget
Gondwe to give an update on budget
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe will report to the House whether the budget implementation is on course or has veered off track.

In turn, the House will demand answers from the Executive on expenditure overflows and justification on why agreed budget ceilings were overshot.

The House is also expected to consider creating a budget line proposal to facilitate the work of the newly established Office of the Director of Public Officers’ Assets, Liabilities and Business Interests Declaration.

The assets director Christopher Tukula confirmed that his office is asking for about K750 million to implement its programmes.

The National Assembly will consider a recommendation to confirm Paul Kanyama as Inspector General of the MPS.

To be confirmed in the position, Kanyama will need the support of a simple majority of the members of Parliament (MPs) present, according to Section 154 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic.

Kanyama was appointed by President Peter Mutharika in November 2014.

Kasaila, who is also Minister of Transport and Public Works, said after consultations with stakeholders on legal, social, youth and marital issues, the Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Bill (Marriage Bill) will be presented before the House.

The bill, among others, proposes to raise the age at which an individual can formally be allowed to marry from 14 to 18 years.

The last time the issue was brought before the House about five years ago, former president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika, refused to sign a bill which the legislature had passed on the matter, demanding inclusion of more input after stakeholders raised concerns the proposed piece of legislation had been put together hurriedly.

Kasaila said a bill on the Reserve Bank of Malawi is proposing to cordon the institution off the influence of the Executive in response to the voices on fiscal policy and management practices who have suggested that the central bank would be more effective in delivering on its mandate without Executive intrusion.

He also said the bill on human trafficking has been formulated to facilitate efforts of dealing systematically with the problem which is on the rise in the country.

The House, he said, would also discuss the recent tragedy resulting from the torrential rains which has claimed a reported 176 lives and displaced close to 200 000 people. n

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