MPs in uproar over report

• Opposition MPs brand analysis ‘fake’
• Germany ready to fund forensic probe

There was an uproar in the National Assembly yesterday as members of Parliament (MPs) demanded what they called a “genuine” report into the mismanagement of funds in government before the Committee of Supply could resume.

Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe on Tuesday deposited with Parliament a data analysis titled Final Analysis Report: Reconstruction of the Malawi Government Cashbook for Purposes of Further Investigation which indicates that K577 billion cannot be accounted for in the government’s bank statements between 2009 and 2014.

The Nation managed to source the report; whose yesterday’s story gave the broad picture that massive looting took place in the five-year period, shared between the administrations of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and People’s Party (PP).

In the meantime, Germany—which funded the analysis by audit and business advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)—has since said it is ready to finance a forensic audit or investigation.

In Parliament, Rumphi East MP Kamlepo Kalua (People’s Party-PP), who is also vice-chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, rejected the report, claiming it was not the correct version.

He said: “This report that was presented here is irregular. It is not the report that was supposed to be tabled here. It should have stated the year and contents in detail to allow members scrutinise and debate accordingly.

But Gondwe did not respond to Kalua’s demand as the House had gone past adjournment time.

Earlier, Mzimba Hora MP Christopher Ngwira (PP) also rose on a point of order to demand that the Committee of Supply—which scrutinises and passes budget allocations vote by vote—be suspended to pave the way for debate on the report.

Assurances from Speaker Richard Msowoya that the report would be circulated to all members did not please the opposition MPs who engaged in a shouting match with the government side.

Said Msowoya: “I thought we agreed yesterday upon receiving the report that it stands referred to the Public Accounts Committee, which will scrutinise it.”

But Ngwira continued to push his case, prompting the Speaker to switch off his microphone.

Parliament’s PAC is expected to discuss the report during meetings which start after Parliament rises on July 3.

In a related development, the German Development Cooperation in Malawi (GIZ) head Katrin Pfeiffer confirmed that the facts presented by the Auditor General were true and the German government was ready to provide additional funding to support further investigations to conclude the audit.

Pfeiffer said in a response to a questionnaire that Germany provided 250 000 euros (about K125 million)—and not K9 billion as suggested in some quarters—to the National Audit Office with support from PwC to carry out a preliminary analysis before the forensic audit.

Said Pfeiffer: “Germany provided the funding to support the reconstruction of the Malawian government cashbook and the identification of possible ‘red flags’ for purposes of further investigation. Germany is prepared to provide additional funding to support these further investigations.” n