FORMER Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande says the trend of splashing huge sums of cash on social media raises money printing suspicions.

Last Thursday, Government Chief Whip Brian Mundubile said if any member of the ruling party felt compelled to donate cash, they should do it away from the cameras.

But in an interview, Magande warned that such conduct would make people lose confidence in the currency because they can suspect it is just being duplicated using a machine.

“Even during my time, there were billions of Kwacha but you didn’t see money being flashed. Now when people start flashing this money around, it simply means the impact it has not only on the country but on the monetary systems, is that it erodes the confidence in the trust of the people in that currency because people think someone is just duplicating that money using a machine. During my time, the Kwacha was not moving like this. Money only comes from the Bank of Zambia so if you see someone, let’s say in Chipata or Livingstone with stacks of money, it can only have come from there and therefore if stacks of cash can find their way to Kapata compound in Chipata, then it means it has no value,” said Magande.

“During my time, we never saw anybody flashing money so what has gone wrong now? Someone explained all this about what happens when there is too much money floating around how this money looses the trust of the people because it is being thrown around and people are buying all sorts of vehicles with it, it looses credit. Sometime four years ago, someone was saying this time around you can’t even drop a five Ngwee in a bus, someone will rush to pick it but now people are saying what is a five ngwee? They are actually now scandalising the currency.”

Mundubile said there was no harm in donating silently, arguing that there was no need for someone in Monze to know about a donation he has made in Mporokoso.

“If someone feels compelled to donate, there is no harm in making a donation away from the camera. It is a perception also. We are saying if you are going to donate, donate in silence after all the people you are donating to are people in your constituency who will know about that donation and will definitely vote for you,” said Mundubile.

Meanwhile, there have been several videos in which PF cadres are seen displaying huge sums of money on social media.