By Levison Lester & Patience Longwe

Lilongwe, February 29, Mana: Executive Director for Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC), Lloyds Vincent Nkhoma, has asked the Parliamentary Cluster Committee on Industry, Trade and Tourism, Media, Information and Communication to lobby government for extra funding amounting to K400 million if the Commission is to serve Malawians better and effective.

Nkhoma made the remarks in Lilongwe on Thursday when he appeared before the cluster committee.

He justified the adjustment saying funds allocated are not enough to cushion the price of fuel and mobility challenges the Commission faces in undertaking its duties.

"Indeed we appeared before the cluster committee. Basically, this is a standard process where we annually come to present our budget and showcase to Parliament what we have achieved the previous year. We also lobby for additional funding if needed by showcasing the programme base focus of what we want to achieve as a Commission.

"Treasury has given us a budget of about K1.51 billion but looking at the programmes, and issues of currency alignment which has happened, and for us to be effective and deliver our mandate, we are proposing for additional K400 million to cushion some of the issues on our work," he said.

Nkhoma said, apart from easing mobility challenges, the request for extra funding to the current budget allocated by Treasury is justifiable as it will help in staff recruitment.

Co-Chairperson for the Parliamentary Cluster Committee on Industry, Trade and Tourism, Media Information and Communication, Susan Dossi, said the lobby for extra funding will happen only if CFTC clearly indicates how the proposed funding will be utilized.

"As a cluster committee, we were informed by CFTC that the budget announced last week is not enough and have asked us to lobby government for extra funding.

“Unfortunately, they have not indicated what they want to do with the extra funds. So, we have agreed for another meeting next week where they will indicate how the extra money will be used," she said.