Pressure continues to mount on authorities to disclose agreements behind signing of a $6.85 billion grant between Malawi Government and Bridgin Foundation.

The latest demand by the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) comes in as some quarters are still expressing scepticism about viability of the deal.

According to the coalition’s interim Vice Chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa, the deal was signed on behalf of the country’s citizenry and such Malawians must be entitled to know what is behind the deal.

He noted: “This is an agreement that is worth a lot of money and the beneficiaries are supposed to be Malawians.”

Kaiyatsa has told us that government needs to demonstrate transparency and make public what is inside the agreement.

“It is in the interest of transparency that agreements of kind should be made public, what we are asking the government is to make public the agreement, we should see it.

“So that Malawians who are the intended beneficiaries should be able to know what exactly is contained in that agreement,” said Kaiyatsa.

During the signing the agreement late last month, President Lazarus Chakwera said the agreement with the Malawi Government aims at investing $6.85 billion into various projects over the next three to four years.

Said Chakwera: “What the Bridgin Foundation has done here is not just an act of kindness and generosity, but also an act of trust.

“What they have done is to trust that I really mean business when I say in speech after speech what I am doing and what I want to do to make Malawi a better place for Malawians.”