Who will trust Dr. Ken Lipenga as Minister of Finance? MRA Management should go!

Constitutional principles	12	SECTION 12 OF THE THE MALAWI CONSTITUTION TALKS OF TRUST FOR ONE TO CONTINUE EXERCISING FUNCTIONS OF A PUBLIC OFFICE This Constitution is founded upon the following underlying principles -
		All legal and political authority of the State derives from the people of Malawi and shall be exercised in accordance with this Constitution solely to serve and protect their interests.
		All persons responsible for the exercise of powers of State do so on trust and shall only exercise such power to the extent of their lawful authority and in accordance with their responsibilities to the people of Malawi.
		The authority to exercise power of State is conditional upon the sustained trust of the people of Malawi and that trust can only be maintained through open, accountable and transparent Government and informed democratic choice.
		The inherent dignity and worth of each human being requires that the State and all persons shall recognize and protect fundamental human rights and afford the fullest protection to the rights and views of all individuals, groups and minorities whether or not they are entitled to vote.
		As all persons have equal status before the law, the only justifiable limitations to lawful rights are those necessary to ensure peaceful human interaction in an open and democratic society
		All institutions and persons shall observe and uphold the Constitution and the rule of law and no institution or person shall stand above the law.
Principle of National Policy	13.	The State shall actively promote the welfare and development of the people of Malawi by progressively adopting and implementing policies and legislation aimed at achieving the following goals �
		(a) Gender Equality
		To obtain gender equality for women with men through -
		full participation of women in all spheres of Malawian society on the basis of equality with men;
		the implementation of the principles of non-discrimination and such other measures as may be required; and
		the implementation of policies to address social issues such as domestic violence, security of the person, lack of maternity benefits, economic exploitation and rights to property.

Parliament, is a House of records. On 17th February 2012 there was a private members motion by Karonga Nyungwe MP Khwaulo Msiska who wanted the House to debate and set up an inquiry to serious allegations of   cheating by the Malawi Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Finance and Government as the whole which borrowed close to K25 billion from Commercial Banks to reflect as revenue collected by the infamous Zero Deficit Budget.

The allegations were made by Balaka South MP George Mnesa that Government only collected K95 billion and the projected K120 billion collection by the Malawi Revenue Authority beat a target of K115 billion making the Zero Deficit Budget a success.

The Minister of Finance Dr. Ken Lipenga stood up and changed tunes after he had given a green light earlier and called the allegations and defended the Malawi Revenue Authority. He knew it was a lie.

Mnesa, was asked to bring proof and ridiculed the by majority of the Democratic Progressive Party backbenchers, I remember a Deputy Minister shouting a Mnesa as a "damn liar."

Today Mnesa is vindicated, he told the truth, but the Parliamentary record as I checked this morning still stands that he created fabrications. Historians will forever question the integrity of the one George Mnesa for telling 'lies to Parliament."

Dr. Ken Lipenga today has changed tunes, he says Mnesa is not a liar after all, he spoke the truth.

Honourable Ministers, if at all there is anything about these politicians we pay to drive in Mercedes Benz while we queue for fuel and others things and Parliamentarians take an oath of office to defend the Constitution and tell the truth.

The Honourable Minister of Finance Dr. Lipenga, lied under oath.

He lied to the Malawi parliament.

He lied to the people of Malawi.

One by one praise singers in the name of DPP back bencher stood up and praised the performance of the Zero Deficit Budget, the Hansard shows who said what and who did what.

What are we imparting to the new generation? That it is okey for a Government Minister to lie to Malawians to keep his job and later emerge again and claim it was a lie?

Is anybody going to find an excuse and blame it all on Late President Bingu wa Mutharika for failing to to say the truth and lying in their own words to the whole Government and the People of Malawi.

President Joyce Banda, Honourable Atupele Muluzi, Undule Mwakasungula, Martha Kwataine, Dorothy Ngoma and even the Nation Newspapers were the perceived enemies of the State because they stood with Malawians and told the truth.

The confession by Dr. Ken Lipenga is not  a small matter and does not require a magician to tell President Joyce Banda that it raises serious questions of credibility of the Minister.

The President said she wants the truth. Here is the truth Madam President, your Minister can lie to the public at will. I am not sure how much they would lie to you.

Will the public ever trust this Minister when he says the economy is performing? 

How will the public separate the truth from fiction now that he has admitted to lying to the Malawians.

Whatever President Joyce Banda will do or not do in terms of the economy, nobody will trust whatever comes from the mouth of his Minister. Even if the economy performs questions will remain all the time if that is  the truth.

The cost of public trust is very huge to any Government. Malawians lost trust in DPP Government and no matter how much Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba and Patricia Kaliati invested with their words, everybody called the "liars.'

I know Dr. Ken Lipenga as a hard working Malawian, someone the media regards as a friend all the time. He did a wonderful job that night people were plotting "a constitutional coup."

But his service to the Nation now will be coated under questions, I am sure Joyce Banda would not want questions asked about every statement that her administration makes.

Its a question of who will trust Dr. Ken Lipenga after the MRA fiasco. No Government agency can borrow without the signature of the Minister of Finance. That is where the challenge is!

For Malawi Revenue Authority, the whole Management and not only the Director General Loyd Muhara, but the whole Management should resign within the next few hours, they have no moral obligation to ask ask to be honest in our tax obligations while they lie to us.

The interest we paid to this bogus transaction should be deducted from their benefits. They created a monstrous budget regime and taxes, let them pay for it personally that in future everybody can stick to the truth.

Malawians are not baboons or cartoons to be taxed and cheated by a few the way they please. Everybody involved, do the most Honourable thing: RESIGN FORWITH!