MCP names it ‘goodbye budget’
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has said the 2018/19 national budget has no known agenda, describing it as a goodbye budget for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its unofficial partner United Democratic Front UDF).
In a response titled ‘Why Are You Sad Nehemiah?’ on Monday, MCP spokesperson on finance, Alexander Kusamba-Dzonzi, called on Malawians to rise up and rebuild Malawi.
Kusamba-Dzonzi said, unlike the 2017/18 budget, whose agenda was to reduce domestic borrowing, Finance, Economic Planning and Development Minister Goodall Gondwe has not told Malawians what exactly he intends to achieve with the income and expenditure account he presented.
He said it is strange that both the State of the Nation Address and the budget statement appear to suggest that Malawians are happy with inflation, which is at 10.6 percent, while the consumer price index continues to bite Malawians.
“We have a budget which is geared at enriching the ruling elite and impoverishing the country. Malawians must, therefore, expect more infighting in the ruling party as they scramble to share our taxes among themselves,” Dzonzi said.
On the K4.8 billion youth internship programme, Dzonzi said persistent blackouts, culture of corruption, poor funding and lack of motivation in the civil service will not help the interns get necessary skills for them to be productive.
“Unlike in the past, there is a culture of laziness, incompetence as well as corruption in our civil service. Are these the attributes, traits and characters that we want to invest in our youth?” he queried.
Kusamba-Dzonzi also said the K2 billion earmarked for the attainment of PhDs among youth officers in government is just meant to support the sons and daughters of DPP and UDF elites.
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