(TIMES) Magande clarifies allowance qualms
Magande clarifies allowance qualmsBy Times Reporter
FINANCE and National Planning Minister, Ng’andu Magande has explained that the K299 billion expenditure on the National constitutional Conference (NCC) was already Budgeted for under the constitutional reform programme in this year’s national Budget.
And Chief Government Spokesperson, Mike Mulongoti, has defended the allowances for NCC delegates saying the Government wanted the participants to find suitable accommodation, transport and other logistics during the conference.
Reacting to Patriotic Front leader, Michael Sata’s concerns over the funding, Mr Magande said the NCC expenditure was already indicated in the yellow book, that specifies Government Budget allocations, under the Constitutional reform programme.
Speaking in Chilanga on Wednesday when he visited an HIV/AIDS project, Mr Magande said the Government was not diverting funds meant for other programme such as health. He said more funds would be allocated to the NCC in next year’s national budget.
On the HIV/AIDS project, Mr Magande said the K60.4 million project was funded through a grant from the World Bank in 2004 and implemented by the Zambia National Response to HIV/AIDS (ZANARA). He said any investment would continue yielding negative results unless the AIDS issue was effectively addressed. Mr Magande said indications were that by mid-2008, the price of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) would come down, thereby facilitating the acquisition of more drugs for free distribution to the affected under Zambia’s current programme.
And Speaking on a live ZNBC radio programme, Mr Mulongoti said in Lusaka yesterday the allowances for NCC members could seem huge but Government did not want them to languish during their deliberations because the conference was a national event.
He said that if Zambians felt that the allowances were too high, they should lobby the delegates to declare them as such instead of that coming from non-participants. Mr Mulongoti said the Government, in fact, lamented on the cost of enacting the Constitution but the same people now condemning the allowances said it was expensive to come up with the Constitution and that the Government had to bear the cost. He said the Government had so far done its part but it should not be blamed for answering the calls of the people on the matter.
Mr Mulongoti warned that while there was nothing wrong with the would-be delegates, like members of Parliament, failing to attend the conference, any one found interfering with the deliberations or participants in anyway would face the Law.
Labels: ALLOWANCES, MIKE MULONGOTI, NCC
posted by MrK @ 10:39 AM
1 Comments:
Mike Mulongoti is not the brightest of a poor bunch, that seems to surround Levy Mwanawasa.
However, even an information minister should be able to see the difference between extravagance and necessity.
Perhaps it is unfair to go after the information minister, who after all is just a mouthpiece for the government. However, nothing of what he says seems to get him fired, so you have to presume that Mwanawasa agrees with what he says.
Mr Mulongoti said the Government, in fact, lamented on the cost of enacting the Constitution but the same people now condemning the allowances said it was expensive to come up with the Constitution and that the Government had to bear the cost.
That would be because a Constitutional Conference would not be about buying delegates with massive 'sitting allowances'?
Even before anyone says anything, there is the massive appearance of impropriety.
And then there is Magande.
Reacting to Patriotic Front leader, Michael Sata’s concerns over the funding, Mr Magande said the NCC expenditure was already indicated in the yellow book, that specifies Government Budget allocations, under the Constitutional reform programme.
So what if it was budgeted for? K300 million is still about $75 million.
How can all that expenditure be justified? Can the MMD do anything without overspending?
Corruption runs wide and deep in this government.
For a government that believes in free markets, they certainly seem to like the government's money a lot.
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