Minister of Information Gospel Kazako says the government will save billions of Kwacha after building houses for Members of Parliament in all 193 constituencies.
The minister made the remarks in an interview with public broadcaster MBC.
According to Kazako, government spends over K2.5 billion in housing for every Member of Parliament.
“In the next 10 years this figure is bound to be more. We might be talking of spending over K10 billion,” said Kazako.
He added that the project is part of the government efforts to seal all loopholes that drain the country’s resources.
He also noted that the Chakwera administration wants public officers to be servants of the people and the houses will ensure that MPs are accessible to their voters.
“You know this Administration is advancing Servant Leadership which seeks to enable the constituents have access to their legislator and this is the surest way of doing it,” said Kazako.
President Lazarus Chakwera announced the project last week and said he will engage investors to fund construction of the houses.
Several commentators have, however, bashed Chakwera over the plan, with social commentator Onjezani Kenani saying it cannot be a priority in a country where many people are suffering and there are various infrastructure projects which lack funding.
But Kazako, in the interview with MBC, insisted that the project will proceed.
“The Signal the President and his Vice are sending is to bring reforms across the spectrum and start doing things differently. I can assure you we will do this project nicely and years down the line Malawians will appreciate this initiative,” said Kazako.
