By Beatrice Bangula

Blantyre, October 1, Mana: Vice President Dr Michael Bizwick Usi has described the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) as a poverty-alleviating tool that needs to be disassociated with politics.

Dr Usi said this on Tuesday during a consultative meeting organized by NEEF for community leaders in Blantyre.

"Let us all support NEEF for the sake of our people. NEEF is there to deal away with poverty by enabling citizens to generate income and wealth regardless of their political status," he said.

The Vice President said nobody should associate the loan facility with politics adding anyone should benefit from it.

"Politics can be intense but for the sake of dealing away with poverty in Malawi, let us leave politics aside and concentrate on how to fight the poverty among our people, " he said.

Dr Usi therefore called on NEEF to be considerate when demanding collateral in dispensing the loans so that everyone should have access.

"These loans should be accessed by all Malawians including those in great poverty. Some people are in dire poverty and if we are too strict with collateral we are not helping them,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer for NEEF, Humphrey Mdyetseni said to accommodate the poor, they have introduced a package called ‘Vuukani’ loan which is for those who do not have assets for getting a loan.

“It’s a product for people who lack assets like houses, farms or household items to use as collateral but are business-minded. These have to be in groups and get a loan as a group,” he said.

Councillor for Soche Ward, Jeremiah Jumbe commended NEEF for its work saying their operations are non-partisan as witnessed by so many people getting loans.

“I would like to testify that NEEF is not selective in its operations. I am a councilor of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) but I got a K10 million loan together with my group of Mpemba Vendors,” he said.