Govt for parastatals reforms

President Dr Lazarus Chakwera says his administration is committed to ensure that State Owned Enterprises (SOE) are part of a wider reform agenda of the parastatal sector.

He was speaking in parliament Wednesday when he appeared before the house to respond to question from Members of Parliament (MPs).

Among the questions the president was asked was why his administration has so far moved 22 accounts of SOEs to the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) to stop government from borrowing its own money from commercial banks.

In his response President Chakwera said the migration of SOEs bank accounts to RBM is part of the areas to reform the parastatal sector.

He said government will continue with the migration policy to include fully sub-vented organisations and commercial SOEs.

The migration process is done in phases to minimise instances of disrupting operations which can affect the quality and speed of service delivery to Malawians.

“It is fundamentally and morally wrong to continue this policy of allowing a few entities to control the wealth of Malawians for their own self-enrichment,” Chakwera said.

The President also addressed the house on measures his administration has put in place to cover the expected shortfall and timely avert a prolonged hunger crisis because of the dry spell the country is currently experiencing.

The President said his administration is conducting an assessment to establish the extent and the impact of the dry spells.

“My government, with support from development partners, is implementing three flagship irrigation projects, namely Agricultural Infrastructure and Youth Agribusiness project, Programme for Rural Irrigation Development, Shire Valley Transformation Programme and Agricultural Commercialisation project,” he said.

The president responded to questions from MPs such as Nkhatabay South East, Noah Chimpeni; Thyolo Thava, Mary Navicha; Chikwawa West, Susan Dossi; Machinga North East, Ajilu Richard Kalitendere and Zomba Central, Bester Awali among others.