Kamlepo Call For Peter Mutharika Resignation Over MSB Sale

There was a heated debate in the National Assembly after learning that the Malawi Savings Bank sale has been reached and the government has signed the deal with FDH Bank on Thursday morning.

The information reached the house in the afternoon and resulted into the early lunch break as members began to demand for more explanations from the government over the decision.

Immediately the house resumed sitting in the afternoon a lot of members of parliament including Uladi Mussa, member for Salima South asked why the Minister had decided to sell the bank yet the house had on Wednesday passed a motion which restricts sale of MSB instead, provide enough resources.

He even asked why the sale was done yet the president announced the suspension of the sale.

However Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe said “Before we took this action president announced his decision that we can now go on with the sale.”

The national assembly passed resolution to halt to sale the bank when the committee on Budget and Finance on Wednesday brought in the house, a report which recommended government to use other avenues except sale of the bank

Rumphi East legislature, Hon. Kamlepo Kalua while wonder to whose interest did the President had announced the decision to sale the bank made a strong call that “Am therefore calling the resignation of the president of the Republic of Malawi Professor Peter Mutharika!

Chakwera

But Leader for the house in the National Assembly Francis Kasaila tried to rescue the president invain by saying “This is an executive decision on behalf of all Malawians” and added that the decision was legal

Leader of Opposition Hon. Lazarus Chakwera said, the decision to sale the bank was lack of transparency from beginning to end

He said the minds of the executive were made up to go for the decision and set aside loads of calls from the public.

He said people should expect more problems in future and the poor Malawian will pay the price.

He also bemoaned that the relevance of National Assembly on the matter was overlooked

There were emotions as the motion was being debated to the extent that the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Esther Chilenje pleaded for debate of the matter with “sober mind”

Chairperson for Agriculture in the National Assembly Hon. Felix Jumbe registerd his concern in the house saying the sale of MSB is a loss to Malawi’s strategic asset.

He even suggested that Malawi would have recapitalized the bank by asking people to contribute K20, 000 per person which would have raised over K50 billion.

“You are causing poverty to people of Malawi by selling the Malawi’s strategic assets” and pleaded for rescind of the decision 

Hon. Juliana Lunguzi

Dedza East Parliamentarian Juliana Lunguzi described the sale as one of the worst decision ever made and worried if the laws of the land are any important regarding that by requirement of the law the house had presented report which the whole house adopted and restricted the sale of the Bank. She then questioned the relevance of the existing laws.