Parliament has rejected a request by Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) to be bailed out of a K54 billion which it accumulated as a debt.

This came to light during the ongoing parliamentary cluster meetings in Lilongwe.

Secretary to Treasury Ben Botolo confirmed the debt.

“But we are not bailing them now, we don’t have the money. MRA (Malawi Revenue Authority) cannot just collect all that much at one goal,” Botolo said.

State-controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation also asked for more money to pay for debts.

Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of parliament Rhino Chiphiko said the K54 billion debt for Escom could be a scam to fund the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) campaign ahead of the 2019 polls.

“This debt has been there it was just in millions, it is very surprising that it is now in billions,” said Chiphiko.

He said the government will secretly fund Escom. Chiphiko also wondered how the government has a K179 billion domestic debt, saying this was reckless.

Chiphiko said the government is insensitive to the economic situation the country is facing.

“Actually much of the borrowing is for consumption which is bad for the nation,” he said.

He said much of the debt also goes to the payment of interest on the debt.