As Committee of Supply Deferred 2 More Votes on Monday
Finance,
Economic Planning and Development Minister says he is not going to make any
increment to votes being deferred by the National Assembly in the ongoing
Committee of Supply.
On Monday
evening the Committee of Supply has deferred two votes bringing total number of
deferred votes to three following Road Fund Administration vote which was
deferred on Friday for having meager allocation.
The two
deferred votes are Directorate of Public Prosecution and State Advocate (DPP
office) vote which has a revised allocation of K462.3 million from approved
provision of K495.7 million and the Legal Aid Department vote which has been
deferred by Finance Minister himself without explanation. The vote has an
allocation of K210.4 million a revision from approved K227.3 million.
Goodall Gondwe |
Reacting to Malawi Voice question if he is going to make some increment to the DPP office vote, Gondwe was quick to say No, no, no.., I hope to convince them some more
Gondwes
response is apparent following Mondays Order Paper where Road Fund Administration
vote which was deferred on Friday appeared having same figures of revised
allocation of K23. 8 billion from approved provision of K25.87 billion.
The
Committee of Supply on Monday deferred DPP office vote for having a reduction
of up to K50 million. This prompted much debate in the house as opposition
members felt the deduction could result into the interference with the work of
DPP particularly on prosecution of ongoing cash gate cases.
Members of
Parliament for Lilongwe Msinja South Lingson Belekanyama, Lilongwe Mapuyu
South Joseph Njobvuyalema as well as Salima South parliamentarian Uladi Mussa
were among the first parliamentarians to inquire from the finance minister why
DPP office has been given a meager allocation yet it is responsible in handling
very important cases of Cash gate.
Uladi Mussa
said the office needed more funding for its obligation of prosecuting cases and
therefore allocating little resources to the office will result into
inefficiency of government lawyers who may at times fail to attend court
sessions for lack of resources like fuel.
Hon.
Njobvuyalema at some point said allocating enough resources to DPP office is
not only crucial for smooth prosecution of cash gate cases but also vital in
bringing back donors confidence.
However,
before deferring the vote Gondwe together with Minister of Justice and
Constitution Affairs Samuel Tembenu maintained that the allocation was enough
at the moment and assured that the allocated amount will not suffocate ongoing
cash gate prosecution.
Gondwe said
should the department say they want to have more money during the next four or
five months Ministry of Finance will make money available to the department But
for the time being I would not want to see money lie idle when it can be used
somewhere
Only six
votes are expected to be passed this Tuesday and later the committee will pass
Supplementary Appropriation Bill.
Though the
Committee of Supply managed to pass 14 votes on Monday, business of the
committee was too slow as compared to Thursday and Friday sitting. This was
because members had a lot of questions on how the Ministry of Finance arrived
upon each vote allocated to government departments and ministries.
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