Government has urged individuals and organisations to send Covid-19 donations to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA).
In a statement on Tuesday, Commissioner for DODMA James Chiusiwa noted President Lazarus Chakwera declared a state of national disaster hence financial contributions from international donor community, United Nations agencies, individuals and the private sector should be channelled to DODMA’s bank account.
“The Department would like to assure the general public that that all donations received will be channeled to the relevant clusters and agencies for implementation of the Covid-19 response interventions,” reads part of the statement.
This comes as Malawians through the Private Citizens Covid Response have so far raised over K134 million. The initiative led by Onjezani Kenani and Dr Thandi Hara has received support from private sector, individuals and various groups. The money is being used to procure Coronavirus supplies for hospitals fighting the pandemic.
On Kenani’s page, many commenters have expressed reservations over making donations to government saying their money will be stolen. Malawians have also asked government to account for the K6.2 billion which Chakwera recently said was used for Covid-19 fight.
“If you donate to the government, your donation will end up into a politician’s stomach,” said one commenter.
“I am interested in the breakdown expenditure of 6.2Billion, No transparency NO trust. We are fed up of unexplained missing of taxpayers money,” chipped in another commenter.
In his statement, Chiusiwa appreciated the work being done by the private Citizens Covid Response Initiative.
“The donations are making a positive impact in the fight against the pandemic,” he said.
