The Office of the Vice President has come out of the cocoon to comment on the leaked memo approving a medical trip of Mary Chilima, spouse to the Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima to South Africa.

Mary Chilima is scheduled to travel to South Africa for medical check-up and the trip has been pegged at at K311.98m (three hundred and eleven million, nine hundred and eighty thousand Kwacha) which was reviewed by the Secretary to the President and Cabinet and the Secretary to Treasury.

The budget for the trip comprises accommodation, air travel fares, external travel allowances, vehicle hiring expenses, local security costs and food rations for Mary Chilima and four support staff. Mrs. Chilima is entitled to public-funded medical help.

Commenting on the matter Pilirani Phiri, Director of Communications in the Office of the Vice President said: “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.”

The bill of the trip has since attracted mixed reactions among Malawians with many claiming that the trip is so exorbitant.