Parliament passes 24 votes

Parliament on Wednesday passed 24 votes at the start of the Committee of Supply with allocations to State Residences, Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) and Ministry of Agriculture getting more scrutiny from legislators.

In the Committee of Supply, members of Parliament (MPs) scrutinise funding allocations to the proposed budgets of ministries, departments and agencies vote by vote before passing the budget.

The State Residences vote attracted interventions from the lawmakers who queried the justification for the K24.7 billion allocation.

Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament chairperson Gladys Ganda, who is also Nsanje Lalanje MP, asked for justification for the over 50 percent increase in the vote amid austerity measures.

She said: “The cost-cutting measures that are being applied across the board should also apply to the State Residences, but it is being approved, although the Minister of Finance said it is not much, but 20 percent is a huge amount.”

Mzimba North MP Yeremia Chihana (Alliance for Democracy-Aford), also queried the huge allocation for Sanjika Palace in Blantyre.

In response, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Sosten Gwengwe said the increase in the allocation was between 15 and 20 percent. He also said the allocation to Sanjika Palace is meant for repairs and maintenance of a serious plumbing problem.

But Chihana argued that the piecemeal maintenance of State Residences are costly and suggested an overhaul of the palace, adding that the works should be done by Ministry of Lands which has idle funds for such maintenances.

He said: “Sanjika Palace is in a state of disrepair, the kitchen in tatters, we need serious maintenance. When I used to work for Ministry of Lands, we used to take care of some

of these things.”

However, Gwengwe, while agreeing with the proposal, stressed that government does not have idle funds for such an activity.

“For Sanjika Palace, even the piping is really archaic and old and I know that there are times when the President had wanted to visit but was told not to, that they just need to do some makeshift maintenances,” said the minister.

Vote 090 for OPC worth K19.8 billion was nearly shot down following concerns from MPs on the failure by Secretary to President and Cabinet (SPC) Colleen Zamba to appear before parliamentary c o m m i t t e e s a f t e r b e i n g summoned.

The issue was introduced in the House by Thyolo Central MP Ben Phiri (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) who accused Zamba of snubbing Parliament.

The Vote was defeated through voice vote despite pleas from Gwengwe that the SPC is not bigger than the President or former presidents and VPs who are all served from the vote.

Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda also gave assurances that the SPC had committed to appear before the respective committee’s in future.

The vote was later passed

after Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa asked for a withdrawal of the Division Stage to allow the House make progress.

Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale also updated the House on the 2023/24 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) during debate on his ministry, saying government will roll out the programme in June this year and expects all beneficiaries to have received fertiliser by end of November 2023.

Chitipa South MP Welani Chilenga (DPP) observed that the K117 billion allocated for AIP is not enough to cover 1.7 million beneficiaries arguing that out of the amount K6 billion will go towards seeds.

S o m e l e g i s l a t o r s a l s o sought answers on what will happen to beneficiaries whose coupons were redeemed but did not receive fertiliser.

But Kawale assured the House that every beneficiary whose coupon was scanned is going to receive fertiliser without fail.

Other votes passed include N a t i o n a l Au d i t O f f i c e , J u d i c i a r y, I n d e p e n d e n t Complaints Commission, National Assembly, National Intelligence Service, Civil Service Commission, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Lands.