Members of parliament last Wednesday commenced their debate meetings on the National Budget with most of them getting vocal on the issue of the Cash-gate scandal.

Malawi Congress Party-MCP President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, was first to comment.

Chakwera started first by commending Government for the introduction of the lean Cabinet by the present Democratic Progressive Party-DPP government.

Dr. Chakwera however requested government to ensure that the gains realized by the introduction of the lean cabinet should not be erased by unnecessary flooding of other personnel in the name of Presidential Advisors.

Dr. Chakwera also bemoaned the apparent deficiency of home security that people have been experiencing recently. He therefore requested that government should take bold steps to strengthen security in people’s homes by providing the Police with the required equipment, personnel and other incentives.

Dr. Chakwera further bemoaned the apparent deficiency of home security that people have been experiencing recently. He therefore requested that government should take bold steps to strengthen security in people’s homes by providing the Police with the required equipment, personnel and other incentives.

Dr. Chakwera then got high spirited when he tackled the Cash-gate issue. The MCP President took a swipe at the country’s Commercial Banks whom he blamed for aiding Cash-gate suspects to swindle the country’s resources while the common man suffers in the village.

“These Banks have been lending money illegally; they have been escalating interest rates so that the common man suffers. They also have to be answerable to their actions,’ he said.

Dr. Chakwera then commended the increased allocation to other government departments such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau-ACB but challenged government to put in place mechanisms to ensure the ACB functions independently.

He then called for increased focus on Youth Development in order to achieve a brighter future for the country.

Other quarters making their contributions to the Budget included People’s Party spokesperson for Finance Dr. Patrick Makina and UDF representative Rashid Pemba.

Among others, Members also emphasized the need to speed-up the prosecution of Cash-gate suspects as promised by government in previous sittings of the House.