Revised budget sparks controversy

The Ministry of Finance slashed millions from the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) funding in its revised 2023/24 National Budget, sparking an outcry that the move will weaken its ability to safeguard rights and investigate violations.

Initially, MHRC was allocated K2.06 billion in the financial plan which Parliament approved in March. That has been revised to K1.95 billion, representing a five percent drop.

In response to our questionnaire, MHRC executive secretary Habib Osman said: “Indeed, the commission’s budget has been slashed by K107 million.

“We expected an increase in our budget, considering that the current budget was already below our requirement and that the devaluation has also eroded the value of the current ceiling.”

The Ministry of Finance revised upwards the national budget by K450 billion, largely to cater for the 44 percent devaluation effected by the Reserve Bank of Malawi last month.  The National Assembly approved the financial plan a fortnight ago.

Nation on Sunday assessment shows that other governance, justice and law enforcement institutions have seen hikes in their revised budgets.

For example, Anti-Corruption Bureau’s budget has increased from K6.7 to K7.8 billion representing a 16.4 percent jump.

The Office of the Ombudsman’s budget has soared by 21.3 percent from K1.4 billion to K1.7 billion while the Legal Aid Bureau’s has recorded a 19.5 percent increase from K2.1 billion to K2.5 billion.

The Malawi Prison Service allocation has risen from K20.5 billion to K25.3 billion, representing a 25 percent increase while the Malawi Police Service allocation stands at K114.3 billion from K94.6 billion, a 21.3 percent increase.

Osman described the funding slash as one step backward for the Commission, saying it was against the recommendations accompanying its newly acquired elevation.

“The commission has just been re-accredited with the highest grade of ‘A’ status by Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions as an institution complying with Paris Principles on the status of National Human Rights Institution.

“One of the observations during the re-accreditation process was that the government should ensure adequate and progressive annual funding to the commission to demonstrate commitment to human rights promotion and protection in Malawi,” she said.

She further said the funding loss will affect the enforcement of the Gender Equality Act and Access to Information Act, among other roles.

“The current funding is below the commission’s ideal budget to effectively implement its mandates…

“The protection of human rights activities suffers greatly, for instance, investigations of complaints that the commission continuously receives require travel expenses,” she lamented.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) has described the development as retrogressive in the promotion of human rights.

CHRR executive director Michael Kaiyatsa said: “With the budget cut, it means the Commission will not be able to exercise its powers and perform its duties.

“The Tonse Alliance promised to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights by supporting governance institutions, including the Commission. The budget cut is a sign that the Tonse administration is reneging on that promise.”

CHRR further said much as it appreciates that the budget cuts are a result of structural adjustments, it still feels MHRC deserves better.

“Government should have treated the Commission as a special case considering the vital role it plays in the promotion of human rights.

“More so now when the Commission has a huge backlog of cases of human rights violations, whose investigations are yet to be concluded,” Kaiyatsa added.

Meanwhile, the Legal Aid Bureau (LAB) has cried foul over its revised budget despite getting an increase.

In response to our questionnaire, LAB public relations officer John Namalenga Junior said: “The resources are not enough. Our major operating costs have almost doubled in terms of fuel and stationery, among others, following devaluation. We are unable to operate at full capacity with the current funds.

The major impact is on our ability to attend court, which is wholly dependent on availability of vehicles and fuel.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Affair Simplex Chithyola Banda has been justifying the cuts as expenditure controls coming as government seeks to balance its books amidst economic slump.

The Nation of  December 5 2023, quoted the Democratic Progressive Party spokesperson on finance Ralph Jooma expressing his displeasure at the reduction.

“We were not very happy that a number of votes have had their other recurrent transactions reduced which means that many offices are not going to operate freely and will not even manage to achieve the programmes and projects that they lined up,” he said.

Other votes that have seen significant reductions include the Directorate of Public Officers’ Declarations whose budget has been reduced by about K40 million and Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs whose allocation has been reduced by K4.2 billion from K15.2 billion to K11 billion.

The Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture’s budget was also trimmed to K18.9 billion from K19.3 billion.

On the other hand, winners were the National Assembly whose revised budget moved from K34.7 billion to K38.1 billion, Independent Complaints Commission got K701 million from K653 million and Office of the President and Cabinet got K23 billion from K19.8 billion.

In his Mid-Year Budget Review Statement delivered in Parliament on November 20 2023, Chithyola Banda adjusted expenditures by K540 billion to K4.33 trillion.