|
|
|
|
| Business |
| MPs’ role in national budget redefined |
|
by
Aubrey Mchulu, 25 August 2004
-
18:08:42
|
When Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe presents his first national budget to the National Assembly next month, stakeholders say they expect the new parliamentarians not to just rubber-stamp the allocations for lack of understanding as has been the case in the past decade.
Random interviews with former finance ministers Aleke Banda and Friday Jumbe and civil society representatives on one hand, and statements from Gondwe, donors and Speaker Rodwell Munyenyembe on the other, indicate that most MPs in the previous Parliament did not take the national budget seriously.
In his remarks during the opening of a week-long training workshop for MPs on the national budget in Blantyre on Tuesday, Alan Whitworth, economic adviser for Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID), said as an economist he regards consideration and approval of the annual budget as one of the most vital functions of any Parliament.
“For this function to be carried out effectively, it is essential that MPs have a good understanding of the budget process, of their role in it and of the key economic and financial factors which influence the budget,” he said during the workshop funded by DFID and the Canadian International Development Agency (Cida).
The major function of a national budget is to set limits on total government expenditure and to determine how expenditure is allocated between different activities but Whitworth observed that this has not been the case with Malawi’s budgets in the last decade as there were huge differences outturns and figures approved by Parliament.
Cida development adviser Debra Scott said the project on economic governance started in 2001 to raise the level of understanding of the national budget among parliamentarians and journalists.
To this end, a handbook on understanding the national budget has been produced to empower MPs to speak with conviction on budget issues.
Munyenyembe could not agree more with Whitworth, Gondwe and Scott. He said it was indeed time MPs shifted goal posts to put economic interests ahead of politics to improve the well-being of the poor they represent.
“In this regard, I put this question to you: Does our representation matter in the national budget? This should be food for thought,” he said.
Gondwe said his observation is that Parliament has not given enough attention to the budget because less than half of the MPs attended Parliament when the budget was presented or discussed.
“This shows they have not taken the budget seriously,” he said.
Jumbe, Finance Minister between January 2002 and May 2004, said he also observed that MPs were not understanding the budget in their contributions.
He said what is important is to pick on important issues such as what is contained in the revenue side, what is expenditure and balance and indeed what is a deficit.
People’s Progressive Movement president Aleke Banda, Finance Minister in the UDF administration between 1994 and 1996, said in recent years some MPs have not taken their role seriously as evidenced by the chamber being empty most of the time.
But, Aleke said, the calibre of MPs now is much higher than previously and this training workshop will simplify understanding of the budget.
Collins Magalasi, Malawi Economic Justice Network national coordinator, said the previous Parliament was disappointing when it came to budget issues because there were few analytical minds as an institution though on individual basis, few were good.
This had a negative impact on the budget in that the few who understood were labelled anti-government simply because they were knowledgeable.
“If the whole Parliament was knowledgeable there would have been an impact but now, we are building the institution—there are a number of experienced individuals now,” he said, hoping for the best.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
