Member of Parliament for Machinga Central East Daudi Chikwanje wants Government to increase the honoraria which chiefs receive.
The MP made the remarks in Parliament when he was responding to the State of the Nation Address which was presented by President Lazarus Chakwera in parliament.
Speaking to Malawi24, Chikwanje said after the devaluation of Kwacha Chiefs are struggling to sustain their families with the honoraria they receive which is too little.
“In fact I was emphasizing on the depreciation of Kwacha. People are struggling to sustain their families more especially the Chiefs, they are unable to sustain their families for a month. For example, a Senior chief is getting K30,000 per month which is very little for them to sustain their families and I thought it wise that I should ask the President to consider increasing the Honorarium of Chiefs in this year’s budget,” said Chikwanje.
According to Chikwanje, the Chiefs are doing quite a lot in the communities in terms of development and they are the ones who go to councils to make follow-ups on development projects .
“So these Chiefs, despite their hard work in our communities, are facing a lot of challenges most of them are failing to even buy a bicycle and other resources for their families,” he said.
He added that chiefs also get their honoraria through banks and this means that they spend money in order to access their honoraria.
“Most of our chiefs stay in very remote areas and so for them to access their honoraria in banks it is very difficult. Banks are very far away and they spend more money just for transport and with the little money they get, they spend all the honoraria for transport which is not good. So Government should consider increasing their honoraria,” explained Chikwanje.
On Tuesday, President Lazarus Chakwera told Parliament that his government will look into the issue of chiefs’ honoraria.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs is expected to present the 2023/2024 budget statement today in Parliament.
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