PREVIEW The National Assembly budget meeting is what dominated the press coverage in June. Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe was tasked again to present the 2016/ 2017 National budget to the August House expecting the parliamentarians to critic it and eventually pass it. And after lengthy discussions debates the budget was passed But not without some opposition on several points. Every other year the process of pre-budget consultations take place where the minister and technocrats in the ministry meet the civil society, society of accountants the academia and many stakeholders to get some input in the national budget in all the three regions. However there is now a new proposal by Members of Parliament who would want to be included and accommodated in the consultations. These feel they also own the national budget and should be part of it. Members of parliament would want to give alternatives and ideas that could be included in the budget because they are the ones who are always closer to the reality because they are with the grassroots all the time. In the past there were concerns that the even after consultations where good suggestions and proposals come out, there is almost nothing that is included in the budget. This raised so many questions why there should be consultations when whatever is proposed at such meeting is not accommodated in the national budget year in year out. The budget sitting of parliament attracts a lot of debates sides of the National assembly and the masses. It is therefore not surprising that in the process of scrutinizing the budget allocation parliamentarians cross paths. Similarly some unparliamentarily conduct is always reported. Leader of the House Dr George Chaponda and People’s Party honorable Harry Mkandawire’s out bursts and threats to fight each other attracted a lot of media coverage to the disgrace of the House. As if this is not enough a number of parliamentarians sleeping while the president is giving his State of the Nation address, only shows some lack of seriousness. National assembly is serious business that is expected to be given attention and having MPs sleep now and then is a bad reflection on the honourables. POLITICS Just like all the other political parties before, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party DPP is being taken to task for the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s failure to arrest some of the people who are involved in the cashgate scandal. The so called big fish are still walking scot free, when in actual sense they are supposed to have been arrested. According to press reports the Anti-Corruption Bureau issued warrants of arrest being issued some weeks ago. Now that some party gurus and business men have not been arrested for some time now officials at the graft fighting body are divided as others are for the arrests some are against. There is always a debate over promises that leaders make before coming to power. The late president Bingu wa Mutharika touted a lot about his passion to fight corruption with the Zero Tolerance to Corruption move , but this did not yield anything to show for. Similarly former president Dr Bakili Muluzi also had his own strategies to fight corruption, but Malawi was still among the nations that are more corrupt not only in Africa but the entire world as well. Corruption fight still remains a challenge for Malawi. In terms of political governance there is still more that needs to be taken care of at least going by the many press reports that show some gaps. It is always the case when presidential aspirants want to woo voters, that they promise financial prudence and good political governance, but this is not the case when political parties come to power. The trends have shown that it has not been easy for any presidential candidates to fulfill his promises once elected. For instance after promising to separate party and national functions, the incumbent president Professor Peter Mutharika has fallen victim of the same. On his recent trip to the northern region, the ruling DPP was seen ferrying its members using government vehicles. And this time around the people were going to a political rally and not a state function. This issue raised a lot of hype in the press with the minister of information Mrs Patricia Kaliati, refuting the story despite pictures of DPP supporters in government vehicles published in the media. The continued use of state resources for party activities puts the DPP’s image at stake as the opposition always blow such stories to gain their own political mileage. DPP Legislator Bon Kalindo came under heavy criticism from his party after organizing a seminude street parade against albinism in Lilongwe recently. The party criticized Kalindo who is also a comedian with several other went on the streets in protest against albino killings. This however did not please some party leaders who feel Kalindo has put the party’s image to shame for being in the forefront in organizing the parade. For doing this the party chased Kalindo from attending a party meeting in Mulunje. Some observers have noted that the DPP must tread carefully on Kalindo. President Peter Mutharika in the month under review accused MPs for playing double standards when it comes to some of the projects his government is administering. On several occasions parliamentarians especially those on the opposition side have spoken against the programme saying some officials have politicized it and that it is a waste of government resources. In the last sitting of parliament there were also reservations among members in the house on the same. Mutharika has since accused legislators of playing double standards by failing to support the programe when they actually the constituents want it. The ruling party warned traditional leaders against supporting political parties. The trends have shown that traditional leaders at times are at liberty to support any political party of their choice. Although there are always issues that always come out when traditional leaders have a party affiliations. While it is always the case that the government of the day always wants traditional leaders to be on their side, this cannot always be the case as some still have their own party affiliation and are directly involved in politics. It is against this background that the government wants this to stop so that all traditional leaders support the present government. ECONOMY Almost all the media reports in June centred on the Malawi 2016/2017 national budget. As tradition demands that after the budget is presented members of parliament from both sides of the house are expected to debate on it. It therefore is not surprising the legislators took time to scrutinize the national budget. Of course it is always the MPs on the opposition side of the house that seek explanation on some of the allocations they feel are misplaced or misallocated. Members of Parliament therefore wondered why the State president’s travel budget was bloated at a time Malawi is still struggling financially. The members wanted a justification for allocating so much on travel and why the president must make 30 trips in just one year. Parliamentarians also took government to task over the allocation of the Greenbelt initiative into the Office of president and cabinet when it is expected to be under the ministry of agriculture. The National assembly also under its Budget committee wondered why the minister of finance is so worried about revenue collection when the super executives in the private sector are not being taxed heavily. Although the civil society the Centre For Social concern CFSC inclusive have advocated for another tax bracket for the high income earners the response from government has not been favorably. Now that the budget committee is also of the same view it may perhaps change things for the better. Despite getting low salaries and having very little disposable income , press reports show that Malawians have to face some not fair trade practices in the supermarkets. Press reports show that a number of supermarkets are cheating consumers by putting a lower price tag on the commodity, but use an old code with a slightly higher price. The unsuspecting customers are made to pay for the commodities at a higher price. It is against this background that the Competition for Fair Trade Commission CFTC is raising awareness and giving a warning to all consumers to be on the lookout. For the first time in the history of the tobacco industry, the rejection rate went up to as high as 99%. This is a disaster looking at the amount of resources and time that is spent in the gold leaf production. Media reports have revealed farmers are so desperate and hurt because they have so much hope for their crop. On the other hand the price of the gold leaf seems to be improving each passing day, leaving farmers who tobacco is being sold to be hopeful. Tobacco still remains Malawi’s main foreign exchange earner and has a great impact on the country’s economy. FOOD SECURITY At national level it is very obvious that hunger is biting so hard and so it is at household level. Unlike in the past when Malawi had four to five years of bumper harvest, the situation is different now as the country is facing food shortage for two years in row. Even with availability of fertilizer subsidy to farmers, Malawi is in this mess because of insufficient rains and floods that some areas faced. As if this is not enough some areas faced a dry spell at a very critical stage of maize production and so did not yield enough harvest.