Council in tight spot

Malawi National Council of Sports board chairperson Sunduzwayo Madise says they are in dilemma on how to implement Minister of Youth and Sports Richard Chimwendo Banda’s directive to immediately adjust Malawi Queens’ allowances.

The minister made the order last week after the Queens won the Cosana Tri-Nations Cup in Blantyre.

But Madise in an interview yesterday explained that the council is in a tight spot because the budget was already passed.

“This means that we have to look from somewhere to get the funds for the allowance adjustments,” he said.

Madise added that it will take sometime to implement  the directive as it has to be  endorsed by the Sports Ministry first.

He further said their hands are also tied considering that all sports disciplines are treated equally on allowances such that if the increase is only done to the Queens, other codes such as basketball and volleyball will also demand the same.

He nevertheless said the Council has welcomed the minister’s directive and their financial committee is looking into it.

“Queens allowances are not enough. In fact, we need to revise them at least annually. However, we first need to go back to the ministry to approve the adjustment as a matter of policy. That is probably not difficult because this has come from the minister himself,” the council’s board chairperson explained.

“It also won’t be easy because the sports budget was already passed and, this means, we have to find within our budget, where we can retrieve some funds without hurting sports operations. Aside from that, we have to ensure sustainability as there is uniformity and equal treatment of national teams as regards to allowances and we need to be cautious on the adjustment.”

Chimwendo Banda could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Queens captain Caroline Mtukule-Ngwira said they are hopeful that the minister’s promise will come to fruition at least before the July 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

“We just keeping our fingers crossed that there are no delays on the implementation process because we are suffering,” she said.

Despite making Malawi proud, the Queens have for the past two years been getting K5 000 as daily training/camping allowance, K50 000 game bonus for a win and K25 000 for a draw and $60 (about K60 000) as daily external allowance. n