PAC of Parliament warns parastatals against failing to pay dividends to government

By: Tamandani Hau

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament Vice Chairperson, Ned Phoya is issuing a warning to parastatals that are failing to pay dividends to the government, saying they have to improve or risk closure.

Phoya sounded the warning Friday, as PAC was meeting with Comptroller of Statutory Corporations Peter Simbani at Parliament building in Lilongwe.

This followed a meeting between the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and the Finance and Budget Committee of Parliament Tuesday, in which during the engagement, MRA Commissioner General John Biziwick revealed that some parastatals owe the tax regulatory body a total of K61 billion unpaid tax.

“Dividends from parastatals are key to the development of the nation, and as a committee, we will start making follow-ups on the issue”. Said Phoya.

Phoya argues that parastatals that are not functioning should be closed and says the committee will also analyze the functioning of such institutions.

He has since cautioned the parastatals to start working effectively and contributing towards developing the nation by giving dividends.

Reacting to the development, Chairperson of the Finance and Budget Committee of Parliament, Gladys Banda promised to look into the issue by engaging the Ministry of Finance and the concerned statutory corporations.

Meanwhile, Comptroller of Statutory Corporations Peter Simbani has noted that miss-procurement and misuse of public resources in parastatals are some of the factors that have led to that failure.

According to Simbani, one of the parastatals with unsettled dividends, is the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM).