Catholics join calls for Goodall, Nankhumwa to resign

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Calls for Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe and Minister of Local Government Kondwani Nankhumwa to resign are growing louder.

The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, (CCJP) has added its voice to the calls for the two to resign or be fired by President Peter Mutharika.

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CCJP says Gondwe must resign.

The commission said this following revelations that the government allocated public funds amounting to K4 billion to 86 Members of Parliament as a way of thanking them for shooting down the Electoral Reforms Bills.

The allocation was later approved by Parliament after government agreed to share the money among all 193 MPs.

In a statement on Thursday, CCJP said Ministers of Finance and Local Government should honourably resign and President Mutharika should take appropriate action against the said Ministers.

CCJP also observed that Gondwe last week contradicted himself in an attempt to clear the misallocation and failed to disclose the source of the said funds.

“Our concern is if the ‘country’s pulse keeper’ cannot be clear on the source of any public funds, then who will ensure transparency and accountability regarding public funds?

“We find this behaviour untrustworthy. It is unethical to spend huge sums of money without knowing the source, conditions attached and subsequent approval of Parliament,” said CCJP in the statement.

The commission noted that the current regime is continuously losing its integrity and commitment to democratic governance as evidenced by the misallocation and wanton sharing of tax payers’ money at a time the National Budget is constrained and cannot perform properly.

CCJP has also condemned Parliament for normalising the K4 billion allocation saying the legislature disregarded its constitutional obligation of providing oversight over the Executive arm of the Government.

The commission has since asked Anti-Corruption Bureau to thoroughly investigate the issue and clear the mist regarding the source of the funds as well as the criteria that was used by the concerned Ministers to select the 86 members of Parliament earmarked for the expenditure of the funds.