By Solister Mogha
Minister of Information, Moses Kunkuyu has clarified that government has not forgiven all those who got loans from National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) and that processes are underway to recover every single kwacha.
Speaking Sunday in Zomba during a stakeholders meeting , the Minister said there has been a lot of misinformation regarding the written off loans by NEEF.
Last week, the government announced that it has written off about K6 billion NEEF loans; thus attracting a lot of discussions amongst Malawians.
However Kunkuyu said as per accounting principles, the written off loans are regarded as bad debts and they are not supposed to be appearing in the NEEF account statements .
“We have not forgiven anyone, we have just transfered data to the other sheet and we will follow up on anyone who got the loans, ” the Minister said.
He therefore warned that NEEF loans are not free and that should anyone get the loans on assumptions that they are free would be punished by the law.
The Minister therefore hailed NEEF management for engaging stakeholders to inform them on loan processes and procedures that must be followed to access the loans.
“What was lacking in the previous loans was lack of engagement and this contributed to the high rate of defaulters. Today’s meeting is crucial as it would enhance peoples understanding and reduce the number of defaulters,” Kunkuyu said.
NEEF Chief Executive Officer, Humphrey Mdyetseni said NEEF loans are not politically motivated but rather funds meant to empower Malawians economically.
“We don’t give loans based on colour, political party or region. This is Malawian money and everyone should get a chance to benefit,” said Mdyeseni.
He concurred with the minister that everyone who benefited from MADEF and MEDF and did not pay back the loan would be followed up.
“Apart from following up, those defaulters will not be allowed to get any financial support from NEEF,” he said.
For the past three years, Government has distributed MK15 billion in the Eastern Region and in 2024, government plans to distribute over MK100 billion; through which about MK30 billion has already been pumped into NEEF account.
Among those who attended the meeting were vendors from Balaka, Zomba and Liwonde, councillors and officials from councils.
President for Zomba Vendors Association, Ianbrown Chidothi hailed NEEF for the meeting which he said would help business people make rightful decisions before getting the loans.
 and that processes are…){kind=link}