https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / African News RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Embed Video

Malawi to feed poor with cash from selling President's jet

5th September 2013

By: Reuters

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Malawi plans to use the $15-million it gained from selling its presidential jet to feed the more than one-million people suffering chronic food shortages, the Treasury said on Thursday.

Malawi angered Western donors, whose aid typically accounted for about 40% of the budget, when the government of late President Bingu wan Mutharika bought the 14-passenger Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft in 2009.

Advertisement

President Joyce Banda, who took over after Mutharika died of a heart attack in April 2012, made selling the plane a priority as she sought to repair the damage left by the previous President, who picked costly fights with donors that left the economy a shambles.

"The $15-million we got from the sale of the Presidential jet will be used to purchase maize locally to help feed the suffering masses and some of it will go towards legume production," Treasury spokesman Nations Msowoya said.

Advertisement

The $15-million represents over half the money allotted to buy maize until the end of March for the 1.46-million people listed as suffering from food shortages by the UN-affiliated Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee, Msowoya said.

Britain, Malawi's main bilateral donor, criticised the plane purchase and reduced its aid budget to Mutharika's government by £3-million because if it.

However, Banda, who faces election next year, has won acclaim in the West for austerity measures and gestures to bolster the economy of the impoverished country.

Banda has cut her salary by 30% and pledged to sell off 35 Mercedes Benz cars used by her Cabinet.

But moves such as a devaluation of the kwacha currency have stoked inflation, raised the price of food for rural poor and cut into her domestic support.

The sale of the plane to the Virgin Islands company Bohnox Enterprise was announced in May. The luxury jet cost Malawi some $300 000 a year in maintenance and insurance, a government official said.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now