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Parties to answer for public funds expenditure

Political parties registrar Kizito Tenthani has launched a probe into the use of State funds by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the past five years.

The two parties are the only beneficiaries who qualified for funding in compliance with the Political Parties Act (2018).

As part of that process, Tenthani wrote the Clerk of Parliament in April 2024, demanding detailed financial records spanning the past five years.

MCP confident about their books. I Nation

“Section 21(1) of the Political Parties Act (2018) provides that political parties that secure more than one-tenth of the national vote in parliamentary elections be entitled to State funding.

“Section 23(1)(c) of the same Act provides that those parties that receive funding from the State should provide final accounts to the registrar for purposes of auditing,” reads part of the letter.

Party funding is provided for in the Constitution of the Republic under Section 40 (2).

It reads: “The State shall, provide funds so as to ensure that, during the life of any Parliament, any political party which has secured more than one-tenth of the national vote in elections to that Parliament has sufficient funds to continue to represent its constituency.”

In the letter to the Clerk of Parliament seen by Nation on Sunday, Tenthani wrote:

“I am, therefore, writing you to furnish my office with information as follows; date and amount of money received from Treasury; …names of political parties that received State funding, including the amount of money disbursed, date of the disbursement and account details where funds were transferred.”

This inquiry covers financial years from 2019/2020 to 2023/2024.

Tenthani, in response to a questionnaire, confirmed writing Parliament, saying he also plans to meet the political parties benefiting from taxpayer funding.

As we went to press yesterday, Parliament had not responded to our questionnaire sent last week.

Meanwhile, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament chairperson Mark Botomani supports the initiative.

“It is within the mandate of the registrar of political parties to probe such expenditures,” he said.

PAC examines how government uses public money and resources. It summons government departments and agencies to clear the mist where there are audit queries.

“We can only be sure if the parties are accountable upon submission of audited accounts because every public expenditure must be subjected to the laws that govern public finances,” Botomani said.

MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwila welcomed the scrutiny, saying accountability is one of the party pillars. 

“The funds are spent on administrative matters. This is a large party with branches all over. We also have internal measures of ensuring the membership holds us accountable.

“At our recent national executive committee meeting, we received a report that included accounting how we are using resources from Parliament,” she said.

DPP had not responded to our questionnaire as we went for press yesterday.

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