Parliament has kept a tight lid on the financing and rationale of having newly-appointed members of Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) undergoing a leadership development programme in South Africa amid austerity measures. The commission comprises five legislators, namely Chifundo Makande of Democratic Progressive Party, Daniel Chitonya representing Malawi Congress Party, Penjani Kalua of UTM Party, Ismail Mkumba of United Democratic Front and People’s Party representative Beatrice Mwale. It is chaired by Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman, who is among the delegation.
The Nation could, however, not independently verify the exact number of the delegation, apart from Suleman and the commissioners. Parliament posted on its official Facebook page on Tuesday that the Leadership Development Programme, which is set to end on Saturday, started with a two-day foundation course from Thursday last week. The report said the programme is being hosted by the Southern Africa Development Institute, an institution which simply provides corporate training services, including short courses to both the public and private sector.
Both Suleman and Parliament spokesperson Ian Mwenye did not respond to our questionnaire seeking to get clarification on the funding of the programme. However, some insiders indicated that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) may have financed the trip, an assertion later disputed by an official at the UN agency. “While UNDP continues to support Parliament in various institutional strengthening and governance initiatives, this particular activity was not financed under any UNDP programme,” explained the official while referring The Nation back to Parliament.
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Among others, the austerity measures restricted foreign travel, with all trips requiring presidential approval through the Chief Secretary to the Government while delegation sizes were capped. The austerity measures also entailed that donor-funded travel would not receive any government top-up allowances; hence, critics asking Parliament to justify the commission’s trip, including whether it was externally funded or not. Commenting on the development, Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa said holding a leadership development meeting abroad at a time when the government is urging austerity is hypocritical.
He said in the current economic climate, it is difficult to justify overseas meetings when similar objectives could be achieved locally or through more cost-effective means. Kaiyatsa said such choices suggest that austerity is selectively applied rather than a genuine commitment to prudent public spending.
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