UK minister pledges more support

Visiting United Kingdom (UK) Minister of International Development Grant Shapps has pledged his government’s continued support to Malawi’s poverty reduction initiatives.

Shapps arrived in Malawi on Monday and met President Peter Mutharika at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe yesterday.

Shapps and his five-member delegation met Mutharika behind closed doors.

In welcoming remarks before going into the closed-door session, Mutharika said Britain and Malawi’s bilateral relations are strong, noting that this was the highest-level delegation his year-old administration has received from the UK.

However, a statement issued by Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) in Lilongwe yesterday provided insight into the discussions, saying Shapps underscored to the President the UK’s strong programme of support to poverty reduction in Malawi.

Said Shapps in the statement: “While we cannot channel funding through government financial systems, we are still working in support of national priorities and in very close partnership with his government in crucial sectors which support his administration’s budgetary aims.

“Our strength of support for poor people in Malawi is demonstrated by the increase in DfID Malawi’s bilateral programme this year to over £72 million [K50 billion], with a broad portfolio of investments.”

Britain, Malawi’s former colonial master and major bilateral donor, first suspended direct budget support to Malawi in 2009 after being angered by a decision to buy the presidential jet. London’s position hardened in October 2013 when other development partners also suspended direct budgetary support to Malawi citing poor public finance management as exposed through Cashgate—the plunder of resources at Capital Hill.

In the statement, Shapps commended Malawi’s efforts to put the economy on the mend and to bring back donor confidence.

Today, Shapps is scheduled to visit DfID-funded programmes in Dedza, Balaka and Zomba.