MARY Chilima, the wife of Malawian Vice-President Saulos Chilima, is expected travel to South Africa for a medical procedure and the vice-president’s office came up with a $311 000.98 budget for the trip, according to a news report by Malawi24 on Wednesday.
Malawians have taken to social media to criticise the second lady’s hospital bill which has been pegged at over $250 000.
Meanwhile, according to local media reports on Thursday, the secretary to the president and cabinet (SPC) has been blamed for the leak of the memo containing Chilima’s $312 000 medical bill.
The memo, dated September 19, was from SPC Colleen Zamba informing the president about the $312 000 budget which the office of the vice-president came up with to cover for his wife’s medical trip, according to a Malawi24 report. The memo was allegedly leaked on Tuesday.
Pemphero W Mphande, a Malawian author and social media influencer, who raised funds (over 6 million kwacha) earlier this year for heart patient Rebecca Jali to travel to India for open-heart surgery, said: ‘If funds like these were invested in the health sector, a surgery like this can happen in Malawi and people like Rebecca would not need me to fund-raise for them to fly out. Mary Chilima would not have to spend millions abroad. May Mary get well soon, nonetheless.’
The Malawi has a national health-care service which is government-funded and free to all Malawians. Government health care is provided in three forms: Health centres at the local level, regional/rural hospitals one level up, and district hospitals at the highest level.
In 2019, Chilima made headlines after she released a rap song during her husband’s election campaign.
