4 13
Malawians must own ParliamentSpeaker Msowoya
Up close with
the Speaker
Lilongwe Bureau Chief Samuel
Chunga engages Speaker of
Parliament Richard Msowoya on a
wide range of issues:
Within your main opposition
Malawi Congress Party
(MCP), and among the entire
192 others in the National
Assembly, how much of a
challenge was it for you to
emerge as Speaker? Did you
ever harbour an ambition to
hold this office?
When I was returning to politics
in 2013/2014, the Speakership
was not on my mind. After being
chosen as Right Honourable Dr.
Lazarus Chakweras running mate, and will present a report.
I was looking forward to serving
Malawi to the best of my ability by amendment of some laws leading
supporting him as Vice President
in the event that the Malawi
Congress Party (MCP) won the
presidential elections.
When we did not win, my
focus changed to concentrating
on developing my constituency
of Karonga Nyungwe, making a
positive impact in Parliament as
an MP and rebuilding the MCP
where I am the First Deputy
President, elected alongside Rt
Hon Dr Chakwera, the party
president.
When things turned out the
way they did, we consulted as
a party, assessed the skills and
experience in the team, following
which the MCP President and
our MPs settled on me. I faced
Honourable Francis Kasaila, the
DPP nominee, and I won.
Three years down the line,
what successes and challenges
have you experienced in your
post?
Initially, the biggest
challenge was donor apathy
due to corruption and a lack of
accountability in previous years.
As we speak, Parliament is now
enjoying the support of almost
all the traditional donors. We got
them back and they are providing when you see people being sent
financial and technical support
for committee work, for the
establishment of a parliamentary
budget office and strengthening
the institution of Parliament.
In addition to this, we have
opened Parliament up to the
media and to Malawians, both
in committee and in plenary. As
Parliament is the peoples House, the President and all other
we want to be accessible. In
terms of challenges, Parliament
is still not as independent as it
should be when one thinks of
legal representation and finances.
Parliamentary operations suffer
when our allocations are not
disbursed as approved and in time.
Legally, we are still represented
by the Attorney General, who is on
the Executive side of government;
the very arm of government to
which we provide checks and
balances. This compromises the
doctrine of separation of powers.
To resolve this, Parliament passed
a motion for more independence,
and the Legal Affairs Committee
has reviewed the state of affairs
Hopefully, this will lead to the
to a more independent Parliament,
as per the doctrine of separation of
powers.
Some sessions in the House
are heated and full of tension.
How do you handle such
sessions and do you, and your
two deputies, sometimes feel
drained out for energy later?
As expected, there are times
when adjournment time is a
huge relief due to the exhaustion
that comes from refereeing over
heated debate. As a matter of
principle, I treat all parliamentary
matters as public and national
issues, as opposed to personalising
them. This serves two purposes.
First, I keep my emotions in
check and, second, I adhere to the
Standing Orders, irrespective of
who is holding the floor.
Sometimes, we pre-empt
tensions by having the Business
Committee meet ahead of
contentious issues and arrive at a
consensus that is communicated
to the House before debate starts
or when we have an impasse.
Let me add that having a sense
of humour helps because humour
does get people relaxed.
When everything fails, that is
out, to bring back order in the
House.
The important thing to note,
however, is when one is in the
Chair, one has to be fair, objective
and consistent.
In one of your recent
pronouncements, you said
its better than the Parliament I and others, and not being heard
leaders in the country need to
shade off the tendency of being
untouchable by ordinary people,
especially when the ordinary
citizens want to hold the
leadership to account. What did
you mean?
I meant that it is high time that
leaders in Malawi learnt to become
accountable to Malawians. Those
of us holding leadership positions
shouldnt use our positions or
authority as a means of evading
accountability. While our culture
has taught us not to question
leaders, the democracy we are
enjoying demands that we should
unlearn this tendency because
without accountability, there can
be no good governance. By the
way, it is perfectly possible to
question authority without being
rude, one just needs to have ones
facts and logic right.
How would you describe
the standard of debate in the
House?
In my opinion, debate in the
House has been improving. In fact, their advancement in education
Speaker Msowoya: I believe that if more citizens were proactively interacting and communicating their views to their MPs, more MPs would vote
participated in in 2004 to 2009. when it comes to the national
Of course, there is room for agenda.
improvement in terms of the pace The Youth Parliaments
of deliberations and becoming discussions led to the change in
more evidence-based in our the legal age of marriage and is the
approaches. These will be tackled reason why the problem of cheap
via capacity building and I believe alcohol sachets being all over the
that as our Members of Parliament place was addressed.
(MPs) get more experience, the
more they will improve. In this You are privileged to know,
regard, to provide more and better through international visits and
support to Parliamentarians, we reports, what goes on in other
are increasing the number of Parliaments in other countries.
clerks. Hopefully, this will result in How would you rate Malawis
higher quality, more focussed and parliamentary performance?
better researched debates.
Within SADC (the Southern
In Malawi, we have a Youth Africa Development Community),
Parliament. What is its mandate we are rated fairly high. You
and what impact does it have will recall that our two women
on politics and development in Parliamentarians are chairing
Malawi? SADC parliamentary committees
on gender (Honourable Jessie
The Youth Parliament is a Kabwila and Honourable Patricia
result of the call to give the youth Kainga).
a platform. Since its establishment,
the youth has deliberated on child Among other issues,
labour, early marriages, traditional many people are concerned
beliefs and practices that hinder with empty seats in the
House virtually throughout
parliamentary sessions. This
more wisely rather than merely tow party lines.
gives the people the impression
that the Parliamentarians
absenteeism is somehow being
tolerated by your administration
and the MPs merely receive
their daily allowances without
working for them. What is your
take on this?
You know what? Ensuring that
MPs are in the Chamber is the
responsibility of party Whips. It
is not the responsibility of the
parliamentary administration.
Therefore, when you see that the
Chamber looks empty, you and the
public should take the party Whips
to task.
What we are doing as
Parliament administration, to
assist the Whips, is that we have
now instituted a system that
records those present and those
absent. We provide these lists to
the Whips. Once the Whips have
reviewed the lists, we deduct from
the salaries of those MPs as guided
by the Whips.
The committee of chairpersons
of parliamentary committees
approved this system and it was
adopted by the Parliamentary
Service Commission.
To improve even further, we are
installing an integrated electronic
monitoring system that will record
presence or absence and link these
to the payment systems. This will
ease the process.
Lately, we have seen several
parliamentary committees
making accountability probes
on maize importation and other
questionable procurement cases
in some ministries, departments
and agencies. Is this a healthy
development and is it sustainable?
This is exactly what MPs
are supposed to do under their
oversight function. If MPs dont
do this, then they are failing
Malawians.
Funding-wise, this is very
sustainable as it is all provided for
in committee budgets. You will
be interested to know that what
is covered and reported on is not
all that happens. There is a lot of
work going on behind the scenes:
conducting enquiries, conducting
field visits to public institutions
and so on. These are major strides
we have taken and must not only
demographics and, of course,
gender. This does not only
enrich the debate in the House
and House committees, but it
also means that every cadre of
Malawians is represented. It
means that, at any point, an issue
is being dissected from multiple
perspectives.
You have talked about
gender in your last question.
What are you doing to increase
womens representation in the
House? Are there signs that
such efforts are bearing fruit?
For us, as Parliament, the
one new thing we are doing is
taking Parliament to the people.
In my outings on this initiative, I
personally encourage women to
join frontline politics and contest
in parliamentary elections, so
Parliament can attract as many
women as possible.
Some two years ago, news
broke that First Deputy
Speaker Esther Mcheka-
Chilenje and Second Deputy
Speaker Clement Chiwaya had
been receiving rental packages
beyond their entitlements.
What happened to the scam
and did it not embarrass your
PHOTOGRAPH: NATION
office?
It did embarrass the office
and Parliament, in general,
and the matter was reported to
law enforcement agencies who
looked into the matter and came
back to Parliament with their
recommendations on how it
be sustained but also grown. should be handled and we have
complied.
Last year, there was a
suggestion for a change that You, yourself, were named
would see Wednesday as a full among well-to-do people who
Chamber day that starts from benefitted from a government
9:30am, like the other full days, scheme that bought tractors
rather than it being a day when meant to help poor farmers
Parliament conducts its business improve their agricultural
for only a half-day currently output. Instead, these
--from 2:00pm. This move was tractors were sold, on the
supposed to increase business cheap and irregularly, to top
time in the Chamber. Where are officials. Many call that as the
we on this one? Tractorgate Scandal. What
This has been included in the happened and hasnt that
reviewed Standing Orders and embarrassed your office even
once adopted by the House, the more?
time will change. In the new Government advertised in the
session, that opens in November, press that they were selling the
this issue should be addressed. tractors and any Malawian who
needed a tractor and had the
Does it matter to you that money to pay for it was eligible.
parliamentarians these tend This was the second tender.
to be professors, doctors and There were conditions that one
holders of other degrees? had to fulfil and one had to
Our strength, as a House, lies meet those conditions. It was an
in its diversity. It is, therefore, open tender, people participated
beneficial to have as much openly and the awards were done
diversity as possible and a openly.
representation of all skills and
talents, backgrounds, religions, Are you satisfied with
the way government casts
the National Budget and
implements it? What do you
think must change, to improve
things?
The process that is happening
now, like the pre-budget
consultations, is good because
they are trying to get what the
public and key stakeholders want
from the National Budget.
From a parliamentary
point of view, we spend two
weeks scrutinising the budget
through committees before the
Committee of Supply which
further inquires into the budget
vote by vote. We are organising a
team of members of the Business
Committee to visit two or so
other parliaments to see how the
process is handled and find out
where we can improve on our
processes.
After the high-octave
confrontations between
government and opposition
members in the House, what
socialisation and bonding
activities does the National
Assembly organise that enable
members of the two camps
relaxing as friends?
We have one restaurant where
they go and eat and interact.
We have football and netball
matches that allow members to
interact. In fact, most of what
you call confrontations end
right there on the floor. They
remain in the House.
Do you have any parting
words?
Yes. I want to appeal to
Malawians to own, take more
interest, in their Parliament
and support it. Malawi cannot
develop if Malawians continue
believing that it is development
partners who must provide the
requisite checks and balances
and beat us into line when we
stray.
Malawians must stay on
top of developments, begin
diligently scrutinising the
direction Malawi is going and
strive to influencing positive
change by lobbying their MPs
to formulate polices and laws
that will propel Malawi to
prosperity. I believe that if
more citizens were proactively
interacting and communicating
their views to their MPs, more
MPs would vote more wisely
rather than merely tow party
lines. More MPs, from both sides
of the House, would become
more industrious in their
oversight role and this would
help Malawi make giant leaps in
terms of development. n
 5

The road to impeachment

SUZGO KHUNGA
Assistant Bureau Chief

I
n the life of the Malawi
Parliament, post-1994,
circumstances have dictated
the formulation of rules
and regulations governing the
activities of the House and this
became even more noticeable
in 2005 when Members of
Parliament discovered that the
Malawi Constitution did not
provide for procedures to be
followed for the impeachment
of a president or vice president.
Former Clerk of Parliament
(CoP) Roosevelt Gondwe says
the absence of procedures
for impeachment was not
strange as the drafters of the
Constitution had deliberately
restrained themselves from
providing for some procedures
in the Constitution. Instead,
they matter to Parliament.
Section 86(1) of the
Republican Constitution
stipulates that the President and
Vice-President shall be removed
from office where the National
Assembly has indicted and
convicted the President or Vice-

President by impeachment.
But the procedure for
impeachment shall be laid
down by the Standing Orders
of Parliament, provided that
they are in full accord with the
principles of natural justice.
Then president Bingu
wa Mutharika escaped
being the first victim of the
constitutionally sanctioned
impeachment when the party
that sponsored him to the
seat, the United Democratic
Front (UDF), demanded his
removal on the grounds that
he had flouted the Constitution
by forming his own party, the
Democratic Progressive Party
barely eight months after his
election.
In a move in which the
idiomatic expression there
is strength in numbers rang
true with UDF and Malawi
Congress Party dominating
the numbers in Parliament, it
was the deficiency in Standing
Orders that eventually saved
Mutharika.
Gondwe remembers that by
2005, the Malawi Parliament
President, except to say that the
House shall appoint an Adhoc
Committee to draw up rules of
procedure for removing officers
mentioned in the Constitution.
The motion which UDF
legislator Lucius Banda moved
marked the showdown between
Mutharika and UDFs Bakili
Muluzi who were bitter at
the president for ditching the
party and allegedly targeting
UDF heavyweights in his anti-
corruption drive.
The impeachment motion,
which failed on account of
insufficient procedures, led to
the impeachment procedures
which have become part of the
Standing Orders, adopted in
2013.
The 2004 to 2009 House did
not resolve the issue. The issue
Bingu Wa Mutharika:
Dodged impeachment
of 31st January 2012 to the
House, stated: The Committee
endorsed the insertion of new
provisions that would fill the
gaps apparent in the current
Standing Orders. One such
provision is procedure for the
removal of the President or
Vice President under Rule 237
and 238, Gondwe said.
The procedure for removal of
the President or Vice President
as laid down in Standing Orders
now provides for a motion to
be signed by one third of MPs
submitted to the Speaker seven
days before moving the motion.
In conformity with Section
86 (2), the Standing Orders
clearly specify that the motion
must contain allegations
of serious breaches of the
Chief Justice, plays the role of
the go between of Parliament
and issue the notice of
impeachment to the President
and Vice President.
It is the Chief Justice who
constitutes a tribunal where
the president or vice president
is called to appear to respond to
the allegations and determines
if there is a case to impeach
the President or Vice President
after which the House can
pass a resolution with two
thirds majority to remove the
President.
I would say that
circumstances have a subsequent cardiac arrest.
connection to procedures of
the House as the impeachment
rules demonstrate, the former
COP said.
PHOTOGRAPHS: NATION
Bakili Muluzi:
His UDF party felt betrayed
casualties, most notably the
collapse and subsequent death
of the then Speaker Rodwell
Mnyenyembe in June 2005.
The Speaker died four days
after he collapsed in the House
a short while after ruling that
the impeachment motion could
not be tabled for the reason that
there were no procedures.
What followed were angry
exchanges and commotion in
the House and in an effort to
bring order to the House by
standing up, Mnyenyembe
collapsed from what was later
discovered to be a stroke and
Other losers in the
impeachment debate turned
out to be Malawians because
the death of Mnyenyembe and
6 11
7
8 9
 10

Power play in
SUZGO KHUNGA
Assistant Bureau Chief

T
here was a characteristic to
the debate on the Budget
versus Section 65, which
dominated parliamentary

parliamentary numbers
proceedings in 2007.
But as the nation came to
learn, the might of government
does not just lie in the
numbers, but in powers of
propaganda and the possibility
that the errant member
of Parliament denying
Malawians the budget would
lose their seats in the next
election.
In the recent life of this
Parliament, there have been
several occasions when MPs
have used their numbers to
push their agenda, but not
always for the greater good.
In 2007, Malawi Congress
Party (MCP), United
Democratic Front (UDF) and
independent MPs used their
numerical strength to push
for the expulsion of MPs who
flocked to the government
side when president Bingu
wa Mutharika dumped the
UDF to form his Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP).
About 60 UDF members
and 20 from MCP defected to
DPP, an action that led to the
opposition numbers dropping
to about 110.
Using their numbers, the
opposition demanded that
MPs who had crossed the
floor should be expelled using
Section 65 of the Constitution,
which forbids crossing the
floor or the budget would not
be passed.
What followed was an
impasse resulting in Mutharika
suspending Parliament out of
frustration and interventions
from the clergy.
A defiant Mutharika refused
to sign a memorandum of
understanding which would
have compelled government to
lift the injunction stopping the
Speaker from implementing
Section 65 on the DPP MPs and
instead proposed a referendum Its a game of numbers: Parliament in session
on the Budget versus Section
65 issue. really been used for the Code were also unanimously the strength of numbers in personally affect them, among
A similar occurrence took good of transparency and approved, driving minority the 2007/08 budget meeting them salary and allowance
place in 2012 when ousted accountability to the people of rights further on the when a strong opposition increases and demanding an
vice president Joyce Banda Malawi? peripherals of rights and successfully denied them increase to the Constituency
formed Peoples Party (PP), If the passing of bad laws freedoms. funding when the budget was Development Fund.
which came into power in between 2010 and 2011, when It was the DPP government, passed with a nominal K1 Earlier in 1995, the House
April on the death of Bingu wa the DPP government enjoyed a buoyed by its numbers, that allocation to MBC and TVM. unanimously approved the
Mutharika. massive majority in Parliament proposed and passed the In denying the repeal of Section 64 of the
The DPP had the numbers, is anything to go by, then the Injunctions Act, also known broadcasters funding, the Constitution which outlined
but PP did not and history answer is no. as Civil Procedure (Suits by or opposition MPs argued that how a Member of Parliament
started repeating itself. Using their numbers, against the Government and MBC and TVM were being could be removed from his seat
This time around the tables coupled with a placid Public Officers) preventing used as propaganda tools by the by the constituents.
had turned. The DPP majority, opposition, Parliament court injunctions against the DPP government. The section empowered
which the party enjoyed after amended Section 46 of the government. At the time, the two popular constituents to petition the
2009 elections was trimmed to Penal Code granting powers to But a large opposition programmes on the State Electoral Commission to recall
a Minister of Information to broadcasters, which irked the
 12

PEOPLES
VIEWS
PARLIAMENT
W e
Under the microscope
e x p e c t o u r
parliamentarians to go there and
represent us, but I guess all we
get is a raw deal from them.
They tend to prioritise personal
and party agendas than us; our
needs. This is the main reason
we continue to call upon them
to be staying with us in their
respective constituencies than
elsewhere. That way, they would
understand our needs better and,
in turn, may represent us better.
Edith Chidziko-Chindozi
(Lilongwe)
I dont think they are doing a
wonderful job, especially when it
comes to their pledges as regards
development projects. Most just
promise for the sake of votes, but they
are indifferent whenever in the House.
They rarely comment on issues; only
going with the flow when giving out
constructive criticism would have
done. And when government pledges
some development projects in their
areas, they rarely make follow-ups
and, in the end, we just hear that the
funds meant for that particular project
vanished into thin air.
Wilfred Chibwana (Dowa)

I wish our parliamentarians

Parliament, in general, has failed us over
the years. The only thing they seem to
make progress on is on their perks. Most
of the parliamentarians tend to shun their
constituents once ushered into power. An
example can be that of a primary school
teacher whose welfare is rarely considered in
the House despite them being supposed to be
at the helm of the countrys socio-economic
development. Of course, not all MPs are
under-performing. Others are sometimes
frustrated by the system. Otherwise; they
seem to be progressive in their thinking
and action. That alone gives me some hope
Donnex Banda (Mchinji)
Personally, I am not impressed
with how the House conducts
business. Most times, its all
about them and never about
us. They would rather discuss
how to make the most of the
Constituency Development
Fund (CDF) and their sitting
allowances than improving the
welfare of their constituents.
Bl e s s i n g s Kambalame
(Mulanje)
realised how sacred their role
is in this country, so as not to
waste taxpayers money on
trivia. Deliberations should be
issue-based and not castigating
each other while the hours pass
away. We also have a feeling that
some MPs have overstayed their
welcome in the House; hence the
business as usual approach to
issues. Also, their fat allowances
are not deserved; they ought to
have been attendance-based.
Sylvester Mkungula (Dowa)
14
 15

What is in new parliamentary Standing Orders?

SUZGO KHUNGA
Assistant Bureau Chief

T
he proposed new
Standing Orders have
attempted to address
challenges observed
since 2013 when the last
procedures were amended
and adopted by the House
then.
Among these is the new
Standing Order outlining
the modalities for the
President to appear before
Parliament to answer
questions from members
in conformity with the
Constitution.
The current Standing
Orders do not specify the
day, length of question
time and the number
of questions which the
President would be
compelled to take at each
sitting.
Section 89 (4) of the
Constitution states that
for a president to appear
in Parliament is dependent
on whether the House
has adopted a motion
that specifically invites
the president to come to
Parliament.
Several administrations,
especially the current
Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP), have shot
Speaker Richard Msowoya welcomes President Peter Mutharika to Parliament
down attempts to call
President Peter Mutharika
to adhere to Section 89 (4)
designated for government Rampant absenteeism, On bills, government then and, therefore, this
and Section 89 (3) arguing
bills and committee reports, which has characterised has taken advantage of requirement gives members
that the questions to the
ministers are sufficient. which are currently tabled the just ended Parliament the allowance to waive of inadequate notice period,
But according to the without procedure or order. meeting will be addressed Standing Orders to table the report reads.
proposed SO 68 (4): The questions to with clearly outlined legislation before the 28 The new Standing
Questions to the President ministers for oral replies disciplinary procedures, days notice elapses but Orders have also
shall be taken on a on Thursdays would be including forfeiture of with the proposal, the attempted to make cluster
Wednesday at least once removed and the day allowances for the days length of the notice for meetings during budget
in each Meeting of the designated for private that the member was bills would start when meetings more relevant
Assembly or by a resolution members business only. absent without written bills are presented to MPs by allowing reports from
of the House. The current practice has permission as well as a not after being gazette. the deliberations to be
A maximum of five quite often resulted in lack reprimand right in the The Legal Affairs presented to the House
questions, and five of adequate question time House. Committee noted that instead of the current
supplementary questions, for the House to handle In the current Standing currently, notice starts set up where reports are
would be taken on each pure private members Orders, forfeiture of from the day that a bill incorporated into the report
sitting day and the question business, the report reads. allowances was provided is gazetted, which was of the Budget and Finance
time for the President The new Standing for as a sanction, but there problematic because Committee.
would be one hour thirty Orders have also proposed was no way to capture government would The Legal Affairs
minutes and no extension adoption of procedures for information on attendance distribute the bills closer Committee had envisaged
of question time shall be secret voting on a division of members to be used to to the elapsing of the 28 that the Standing Orders
permitted, according to SO so that MPs do not vote invoke the penalty. days. would be adopted before
68 (5 and 6). against their consciences, The Standing Orders The committee feels the end of 2018, so they