Some civil society organisations (CSOs) have accused the government of frustrating programmes under Trafficking in Persons Act of 2015, by not allocating them funds.
It is understood that the Ministry of Finance has not been giving financial support to the National Coordination Committee Against Trafficking in Persons and the Trafficking in Persons Fund.
Coordinator of Malawi Network Against Trafficking in Persons (MNAT), Maxwell Matewere, said financing activities under the act would help deal with the problem of trafficking in persons.
“Since Malawi passed the law on human trafficking, the Ministry of Finance has never financed the implementation of this act but the law is very clear that the ‘Ministry of Finance shall allocate the resources for implementation of this Act’,” Matewere said.
He said the war against human trafficking can be won if the government provides the resources.
“Issues like public awareness, poverty eradication, capacity building and training of young people and witness protection are being addressed but this law has never been supported by the government,” he said.
The network has submitted a document to the Ministry of Finance, pleading that the funds should be made available in the 2017/2018 budget.
“It is very sad that beside the commitment which has been demonstrated by the Malawi Government, implementation of the Trafficking in Persons Act No.3 of 2015 has been defeated by lack of funding and budget allocation,” reads the document.
In the document, the network tells the Ministry of Finance that it is not enough to simply concentrate on the deterrent impact of criminal sanctions.
It says efforts to deter traffickers must also address root causes of trafficking in persons so as to break the trafficking cycle.
“This is the major reason why we are strongly suggesting to the government to fully finance the implementation of the National Plan of Action against trafficking in persons and the Trafficking in Persons Act,” it reads.
However, Secretary to the Treasury, Ben Botolo, has said before releasing money, all precautionary measures have to be taken to avoid abuse of the funds.
“There are a number of things we have to consider. When we release the money, who is going to follow-up? Will the auditor General do that? So, we are not frustrating any law. We have to make sure that necessary governance structures are in place to avoid abuse of the funds. When the funds are abused, you will be the same people writing about that,” Botolo said.
Currently, cases of trafficking in persons are on the rise, as a number of Malawians are particularly being trafficked to the Middle East.
And locally, most trafficking victims are generally transported from the southern part of the country to the central and northern regions for forced labour in tobacco estates and brick making.
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