Malawians have condemned the US$312 thousand bill for Malawi Second Lady Mary Chilima’s medical trip to South Africa, with many describing the amount as excessive.
Mary Chilima, wife to Vice President Saulos Chilima, is expected travel to South Africa for medical procedure and the vice president’s office came up with a K311.98 million (about US$312,000) budget for the trip.
According to a leaked memo from the Office of the President and Cabinet, President Lazarus Chakwera approved the funding on September 19, 2022.
The amount proposed for the trip has shocked Malawians and many have pointed out that if government invested similar amounts in the country’s hospitals and health centres, many Malawians would have access to quality healthcare.
Social media influencer Pemphero Mphande who has previously used his influence to fundraise for Malawians to get medical care outside the country, said in a Facebook post that the Malawians he helped fundraise for did not need such excessive amounts but the money they needed was a lot to them and some of them are still struggling to settle debts after their trip.
“If we invested all the money VIPs spend outside Malawi, we can have hospitals capable of providing specialised treatments such as the open heart surgery for Rebecca or for cancer that Chikondi got in India.
“We would no longer have to be wasting millions of dollars every year to pay for treatment abroad. Even Mary Chilima would have been treated in Malawi. I’m aware that hundreds if not tens of Malawians are currently in India for medical help.
“I implore the government to think long and hard about this. This money being spent in South Africa can change a lot if invested in our health sector. We need to be feeling pain every time we lose money which could have been saved. We need to summon a spirit of patriotism and think of the future,” said Mphande in his Facebook post.
Also writing on Facebook , another Malawian argued that the system in Malawi favours the rich who are funded by taxpayers to get medical help while poor Malawians are forced to use their savings for the same.
“Now look at our health system. Pathetic. People that were not supposed to die are dying because of poor health services delivery. Now, these top government officials, the president and vice, and their families fly outside the country to get better treatment. They use taxpayers’ money. This must come to an end.”
In a Facebook post on the issue, social commentator Onjezani Kenani noted argued that the South African government provides security to all VVIPs when they go to the Rainbow Nation but the leaked memo says some of the money will cover “local security costs.”
“Let’s hope this figure is not bloated. K311 million is a lot of money,” he said.
In another post, Kenani said: “The K311 million doesn’t include medical bills, folks. It’s just pocket money.”
On his part, Musician Kalawe wondered why there is an allocation for travel allowances in the bill yet Chilima is going to South Africa for medical help.
According to the leaked memo, the money Chilima asked for covers accommodation, air travel fares, external travel allowances, vehicle hiring expenses, local security costs and food rations for Mary Chilima and four support staff.
Pilirani Phiri, Director of Communications in the Office of the Vice President, confirmed yesterday that Mrs. Chilima is supposed to undertake the medical trip.
“I can confirm that Mrs. Mary Chilima is in need of medical attention in South Africa. But we will not be drawn into explaining the details of her illness and ancillary costs,” said Phiri.
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