Malawi president orders controlling officers to provide financial reports on covid 19 funds
State president Dr Lazarus Chakwera has directed all controlling officers to provide the financial report on covid 19 funds within 48 hours.
Chakwera was speaking at Kamuzu palace Sunday evening in his 5th national address on the war against corona virus
The president said there are controlling officers in various ministries and heads of various clusters of the Covid-19 response team who have not submitted reports of how they spent their allocation of the 6.2 billion kwacha that Treasury disbursed to them last year.
Speaking three hours after attending African Union summit Chakwera said he had summoned all controlling officers and heads of clusters to meet the Taskforce in 48 hours and account for how they used that money.
Chakwera says African Union through COVAX initiative is facilitating Malawi’s access to the first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines arriving in the country this month end
“The first consignment consists of 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, which is enough to cover 750,000 people, with additional consignments on the way to vaccinate 3.8 million people as matter of urgency,” Chakwera
According to the president government received 2.2 billion kwacha from well-wishers after he appealed for the assistance
He said digital x-ray machines in Balaka and at Mzuzu Central Hospital are back in use after they were repaired to aid the diagnostics
Chakwera stated that there are at least eight different types of vaccine available around the world for protection against Covid-19.
He said the vaccine type coming to Malawi has an average of 60 to 70 percent efficacy.
Although this is a lower efficacy than that of five of the other vaccine types, the president said it is high enough to save millions of lives.
Additionally, to ensure safety, he expressed that the country has steered clear of five vaccine types that are not yet approved by World Health Organization, European Medicines Agency (EMA), or Food and Drug Administration
He emphasized that prevention remains the best weapon against covid-19 considering the time it will take to roll out the vaccine across Malawi and the logistical and cultural challenges the country must overcome
The president stressed the need to stop healthy people from getting infected, because the rate of infection is still too high.
Meanwhile governance expert Dr George Phiri of Livingstonia University has urged controlling officers to follow laid down procedures in conducting their duties.
“Their failure to submit reports is derailing efforts in promotion of transparency and accountability,” Phiri
He has however urged President Dr Chakwera to ensure that all government funds are accounted for.
