Ministry lobbies for more funding

Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture has a K3 billion deficit in the proposed 2026/27 National Budget and has asked the Parliamentary Cluster committees on Social and Community Affairs as well as the Local Authorities and Rural Development to lobby for more funding on its behalf. The request was made during a meeting in Lilongwe on Tuesday where the ministry ‘s team was led by Principal Secretary Jameson Ndalama. Parliamentary Cluster Committee on Social and Community Affairs chairperson Savel Kafwafwa, who co-chaired the meeting, said in an interview yesterday that the proposed additional funding for the ministry is earmarked for the completion of Griffin Saenda Indoor Sports Complex in Lilongwe and maintenance of Bingu National Stadium also in the capital city and Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.

“The ministry wants an extra K2 billion to complete the Sports Complex [in addition to the allocated K1.5 billion] which is their major concerrn,” he said. Kafwafwa said the ministry also wants an additional K240 million for the maintenance of Bingu National Stadium and K100 million for Kamuzu Stadium, among others. “For Bingu Stadium, the ministry’s justification was that they want to ensure the facility remains compliant with Fifa/CAF [Confederation of African Football] requirements to host international matches and that utilities bills are honoured on time,” he said.

Kafwafwa said they are also concerned with the delay of other projects such as Soche Stadium in Blantyre, the Aquatic Centre in Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzimba stadiums. “So, we have asked them [ministry], being the policy makers, to put together all these projects, including those not under them, complete with the figures so that we should take it up with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation when we meet for funding consideration either through CDF [Constituency Development Fund] or central government,” he said. “The big concern is that the more these projects delay, the more the costs rise due to a number of factors, including inflation.

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So, priority should be to complete the projects that have taken time.” The ministry’s spokesperson Macmillan Mwale said they will proceed as directed by the parliamentary committees. “We are compiling all the sport projects as advised for their perusal.,” he said. Mwale also said if the sports complex project will not be allocated the requited additional funding, they will not be able to complete it “as the better part of the funding will be going towards outstanding dues with the contractor”.

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