The Vice President of Malawi is about to drop nearly two billion Kwacha of public money on a personal vacation to the UK. Official paperwork shows Jane Ansah's trip to celebrate her husband's birthday will cost taxpayers about 1.1 million dollars. The budget includes a first-class ticket for her and business class seats for eight staffers, plus daily cash allowances and a clothing stipend, despite a government travel freeze for other officials.
She is bringing sixteen people, including her own brother, listed as a special adviser and a personal friend, called a special guest. The delegation has duplicate roles like multiple accountants and assistants, for a so-called private visit. The whole thing is extra wild because children are learning under trees and hospitals lack basic drugs right now. For the price of this one holiday, the country could build over a dozen proper school buildings.
The VP's office first confirmed the documents were real, then called them fake, but investigators verified them. They show the trip is billed as private but will have her doing official duties anyway. The funding uses shady parallel exchange rates due to forex shortages. Nobody from her office would answer questions about the blatant nepotism or why this needs state funding. It is a perfect example of politicians ignoring their own austerity talk while everyone else suffers.
She is bringing sixteen people, including her own brother, listed as a special adviser and a personal friend, called a special guest. The delegation has duplicate roles like multiple accountants and assistants, for a so-called private visit. The whole thing is extra wild because children are learning under trees and hospitals lack basic drugs right now. For the price of this one holiday, the country could build over a dozen proper school buildings.
The VP's office first confirmed the documents were real, then called them fake, but investigators verified them. They show the trip is billed as private but will have her doing official duties anyway. The funding uses shady parallel exchange rates due to forex shortages. Nobody from her office would answer questions about the blatant nepotism or why this needs state funding. It is a perfect example of politicians ignoring their own austerity talk while everyone else suffers.
