MP seeks summary of loans under service

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) spokesperson on finance issues Alexander Kusamba-Dzonzi has asked the government to present in Parliament a summary of the loans it is currently servicing for the House to appreciate the extent of Malawi’s indebtedness.

Kusamba-Dzonzi, who is member of Parliament (MP) for Dowa West, made the remarks after Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe tabled a bill to seek Parliament’s authorisation to borrow $14.85 million (about K8.9 billion) from Opec Fund for International Development (Ofid) for the Mzimba Integrated Urban Water and Sanitation Project to increase access to water supply in Mzimba town.

It was Gondwe’s remarks that government was asking to waive the 28-day notice requirement because of pressure from the financiers which irked MCP.

Kusamba-Dzonzi said government was acting on pressure from Ofid not because it cared for the people of Mzimba.

He further analysed the repayment period of the loan, 20 years, against the value of the project which Gondwe said was $22.8 million, including contributions from the Malawi Government and African Development Bank (AfDB).

However, Gondwe said the pressure did not come from Ofid to get the loan, but that government had been negotiating for a while, hence the need to close the matter.

Gondwe said the project would be co-financed by AfDB while the government would contribute 32 percent and Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) 13 percent of the funding.

After the four-year project comes to an end, about 48 000 people would be reached with potable water supply while 31 000 would benefit from the sanitation and hygiene project intervention.

The project will also undertake rehabilitation of dilapidated equipment to reduce non-revenue losses.