| Uladi Mussa |
The opposition Peoples Party (PP) says Donors may resume direct budgetary aid if the current administration swallows its pride and begin to negotiate with donors and accept their demands.
Leader of PP in Parliament Uladi Mussa was speaking in the National Assembly on Monday evening when responding to State of National Address by President Peter Mutharika delivered on Friday.
Mussa said the main reason donors are reluctant to come back is because the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is failing to effectively negotiate with them and listen to their demands.
Donors suspended their direct budgetary aid to Malawi following revelations of massive looting of public money at the Capital Hill dubbed Cashgate.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration of Peter Mutharika says Malawians should move away from donor dependency and start to focus on ways to outsource resources locally and bringing in investors.
However, PP says “does not agree” that Malawi cannot negotiate further with our donors “donor age should not end abruptly because this is not first time happening in the country.”
Uladi Mussa said all President Peter Mutharika’s predecessors came in when donors had left but they managed to bring them back.
“When Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda got voted out of the office in 1994 the Paris Club had left. But Dr. Bakili Muluzi came in they negotiated and donors came back. Ten years later, when Bingu Wa Mutharika came in donors had also left due to bad governance and corruption. But did the same. He went to New York in September of 2004 to give his maiden speech” said Mussa.
He noted that similar development happened in 2012 when Joyce Banda came to power. Also donors had left because the incumbent was off-track with IMF policy but made negotiations until donors came back.
“So we are greatly surprised that DPP is telling people that we must suffer, no aid will be coming to Malawi. No!” he said “The aid can come to Malawi if there is a political will to negotiate with donors.” He added
Mussa then alleged that he is sure that Mutharika administration has failed to convince donors to come back because of the known problems and reasons.
He mentioned failure to honor donor demands and instructions on fiscal audit on K92 billion cashgate scam which took place from 2009 to 2012 during the time of Bingu Wa Mutharika and calls for an investigation into the murder of Issa Njauju one of the top Officials at the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and many other things are the main reasons why DPP won’t go for negotiations with donors.
“So to avoid these conditions this government is saying No donor aid. But I strongly believe if there is political will donors can come back to assist the poorest of the poor in this country.” He added
However he made it clear that PP does appreciates the need for Malawi to be self-sufficient, but believes that Malawi should develop a plan to gradually wean itself from donor aid.
Mussa also in his response rubbishes President Mutharika State of National Address as empty statement which does not give hope but full of lamentations with no proposal about how the country will come out of current mess.
He in several times called for Mutharika resignation.
The PP leader also bemoaned over new procedure in the identification of Farm Input Subsidy beneficies and its price by saying that at the moment, the programme will benefit the rich and not the poor of the poorest.
He further bemoaned with the state of Governance and Human rights issues that includes; Conflicts between branches of government, on tackling corruption and protection of the officers involved in investigation of corruption cases, interference by the Attorney General in Parliamentary Affairs, denying former President Joyce Banda to entitlements (official salary, security, vehicles and residence) and failure to commit to amend the Electoral Laws.
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