veep-led delegation to spend k216m on us trip

Amid financial constraints, taxpayers will spend about K216 million to fund a 41-member delegation Vice-President Saulos Chilima will lead to the United States this month.

The delegation is set to attend the 2022 United Nations Economic and Social Council Forum for Financing Development in New York from April 25 to 28 2022, but our sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have disclosed that the team would be in the US for not less than two weeks.

However, an economist billed the trip as important, saying it requires the presence of many technocrats to pay attention to several matters.

Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs spokesperson Taurai Samuel Banda confirmed in an interview on Friday that the Vice-President was leading the 41-member delegation to the US.

“The figure of 41 may sound huge, but you must understand there are several meetings to take place requiring participation by different officials,” he said

Banda, however, could not divulge more information, saying he needed clearance from Minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe, who is part of the trip, but did not revert by press time.

An economy class return air ticket from Malawi to the US costs between $2 500 (about K2 062 500) and $3 000 (about K2 475 000), meaning at the minimum, the trip would cost taxpayers over K84 million to fly the 41 members to the gathering in New York.

According to our source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, government allowance outside Malawi is $280 per night for ordinary officers, which means for 14 days, the government would fork out over K132 million, bringing the total amount to over K216 million.

According to the list we have seen, the Veep is taking along his executive assistant, director of administration, principal secretary to his office, his special adviser, five special assistants, 13 security officers and other officers from ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs.

Secretary in the office of the Vice-President Luckie Sikwese said on Friday he had asked his office’s press team to respond to a questionnaire sent to him on Thursday. 

Sikwese, when called again yesterday, said his office was committed to giving responses and was going to. We sought justification for the inclusion of each member and the roles of the five special assistants accompanying but there was no response until press time.

The Vice-President’s special assistant Pilirani Phiri, who is also a press officer and is part of the trip neither responded  to a questionnaire sent to him on Thursday nor picked our calls on Thursday and Friday.

Minister of Information Gospel Kazako, who is government’s spokesperson, did not also respond to a questionnaire sent to him on Thursday, advising that Phiri was the right person to comment on the matter.

Commenting on the issue, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences economist Betchani Tchereni said the trip is important and requires technocrats to present Malawi well.

“This is an extremely important trip where discussions centre on economic development and financing. We need technocrats to put up proper negotiations,” he said.

Makhumbo Munthali, a governance commentator on public policy, political economy and public ethics, among others, said it is unfortunate that some officials in government continue to be insensitive to the current economic woes.

He said: “Most of the people that are part of this delegation have nothing to do with the UN Economic and Social Council Forum apart from simply using the trip to accumulate allowances and shop in New York at the expense of the taxpayers’ money.

“The Vice-President who has all along preached austerity measures must be in the forefront in walking such a talk.”

Munthali said going to New York with a 41-member delegation is not only insensitive but an act of hypocrisy.

George Chaima, another governance commentator on government, public planning and international policy, said the country’s economic condition actualising such a decision is raving mad, wrong and unfair to all Malawians.

He said: “The need for such a large delegation cannot be justified by any reasonable cause. It simply means that our leaders have forgotten to guard our Account Number One with sense in consideration of the cry of the masses.

“The Vice-President doesn’t need a score of security officers, a dozen special assistants and all these people. They should be the first to demonstrate that they are servants of the people and not looters of taxpayers’ money.”

He said the government needs to drastically reduce the number of the delegation, adding that some of the functions can be played by diplomatic teams in the USA who will need fewer expenses.

The Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) is at the heart of the UN system to advance the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. It is also responsible for the follow-up to major UN conferences and summits, according to the UN website.

But according to the UN website, the official programme of the 2022 Financing for Development Forum will be complemented by side events which will be held in parallel to the forum on April 25 to 28  2022.

“Side events will provide additional space for sharing experiences and promoting concrete actions to advance the financing for development agenda,” reads the UN website.

According to a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the President requires a minimum of 35 personnel to maximise his foreign engagements, and on Chakwera’s recent trip to the US, he took a 25-member delegation that supported his official engagements with six institutions in two US cities.

Chilima and President Lazarus Chakwera—through public reforms campaign that the Vice-President is championing—have been preaching austerity if the country’s economy, currently in doldrums and cannot afford to adequately stock public hospitals with drugs for example, is to make a turn around.

The UN website reports that in accordance with the Addis Agenda, the annual Financing for Development Forum results in intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations that are fed into the overall follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

“Under the UN Charter, Ecosoc is responsible for promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and economic and social progress; identifying solutions to international economic, social and health problems; and facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation,” reads the UN website. n