Taxpayers are set to foot a K1 billion bill for 12 new motor vehicles for Cabinet ministers and their deputies as well as Principal Secretaries (PSs) and directors amid budget cuts to critical social sectors.

Information The Nation has gathered shows that the vehicles comprise two Toyota LandCruiser VXL executive station wagons for Cabinet ministers, two TXL station wagons for deputy ministers, four double cabin for PSs and four “small” wagons for directors.

A sample of the executive vehicles government intends to buy

Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDAA) spokesperson Kate Kujaliwa in an interview yesterday confirmed that the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) submitted a request for approval of the purchase of the 12 vehicles.

In a written response, she said: “In February 2023, OPC submitted a request for ‘no objection’ to procure motor vehicles using restricted tendering… The approval was granted.

“However, if the entity proceeded with an invitation for bids, the results of the evaluation have not yet been shared with the authority.”

Toyota Malawi sources indicated that a VXL unit cost around $159 400 or K239 million inclusive of taxes while the station wagon costs $128 000 per unit or about K179 million including tax. As for the double cabin wagon, it costs around $72 720 or about K110 million.

The purchase of the 12 vehicles will follow the recent procurement of 14 new vehicles for the President’s convoy and pool vehicles for the Vice-President.

The procurement is confirmed in the programme-based budget document for 2022/23 fiscal year.

However, government’s decision to spend on luxurious vehicles has not gone down well with civil society groups and the opposition in the country.

In an interview yesterday, Human Rights Defenders Coalition executive director Gift Trapence said government must delay the purchase of the 12 vehicles.

“Government is struggling to support people affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy, including maintenance of infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

“We, therefore, call upon the government to suspend the procurement and prioritise needs of the affected Malawians,” he said.

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation executive director Michael Kaiyatsa said the intended purchase shows that the government is not concerned with the plight of Malawians.

He said: “Why not invest that money towards Cyclone Freddy recovery efforts? It is hypocritical that government continually complains that the resource envelope is not enough when it is actually squandering taxpayers’ money on things we can do without.”

Kaiyatsa also urged government

af ter launching the campaign at Nkanda Pr imar y School in Mulanje, Unicef country representative Gianfranco Rotigliano said the launch gives an opportunity for partners to safeguard the rights of children to education and a safe learning environment by ensuring that all affected schools are ready and equipped to deliver quality education.

“The coordination of national authorities, partners and communities to stop the purchase of the luxury vehicles.

In a separate interview, Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa said the decision was wrong and ill-timed, stressing, the budget deficit is unsustainable.

He said: “I expect the government to be a thinking system that must know the right time to make certain decisions and time to pend some of the decisions. We will continue to raise red flags when we see poor decision-making like this.

“We will point out the mistakes and hold government to account. Government is not walking the talk on austerity measures. In fact, this government is just a talk shop with very little to show on the ground.”

However, OPC chief communications officer Robert Kalindiza said the decision to purchase the vehicles is undergoing scrutiny due to the current economic situation.

He said: “Of course, there is a need to purchase the vehicles. However, government is currently reviewing the motor vehicle entitlement policy because there are austerity measures ordered by the President [Lazarus Chakwera] that we should not use resources aimlessly.

“So, despite the approval from PPDAA, OPC thought about the current challenges. The review process is ongoing and once done, the public will be informed about the way forward.”

The Malawi Government motor vehicle fleet has always come under scrutiny as an earlier assessment of the budget by Economics Association of Malawi found that government spent billions of kwacha servicing close to 3 000 vehicles, half of which was spent on fuel and maintenance and the other on allowances for drivers.

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