President Mutharika Is Yet To Deliver Promises says PP

Uladi Mussa

Leader of Peoples Party (PP) in the National Asembly and member of parliament for Salima South, Uladi Mussa says he can't agree with President Mutharika remarks in Parliament that his government is delivering promises made in campaign period.

Mutharika when speaking during official opening of the 2014/2016 Budget Meeting of the National Assembly on Tuesday said his government is laying strong foundation to propel the nation forward.

Mutharika: we are delivering campaign promises

He then said his government is already delivering promises even before his first anniversary of his administration.

Mutharika also talked of his continued commitment to ensure that there is tight security in the country, and make Malawi grow economically. On economic development Mutharika says, his administration has embarked on number of policy reforms particularly on designing sound macroeconomic policies.

“I don’t see anything being delivered in this country and worse in my constituency; no single borehole, no teacher house, no single road. Nothing! What is it that has been delivered?” asked Mussa

“There are only promises from this government as if it is time for campaign." He said and added, "Implementation and funding of the projects being mentioned in his statement is the problem as well.”

This Wednesday afternoon PP is expected together with Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to make a response to the State of National Address delivered by President Mutharika on Tuesday.

Opposition Parties Differ on 90 Days Suspension For Blantyre City Central Legislature:

MCP Opted Stiffer Penalty while PP, UDF Satisfied

The suspension of Blantyre City Central Constituency Legislature, Hon. Themba Mkandawire from participating any Parliamentary and all Committee Meetings for a period of 90 days has received mixed reactions among major political parties represented in the National Assembly.

On Friday, Speaker of National Assembly Richard Msowoya announced a 3 months suspension for hon. Mkandawire following Tuesday assault of a Parliamentary Head of Usher, Jones Sabola.

The legislature manhandled the Usher for refusing to give an extra 2015 Parliament calendar being distributed as the House was suspended for a lunch break.

Though all political parties agree and condemn the unparliamentarily act by hon. Themba, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is categorically opposing the speakers ruling by calling it "Slap on the Wrist" while Peoples Party (PP) and United Democratic Front (UDF) says the 90 days suspension is a deserving one.

“To me that sounds almost a slap on the wrist” reacted Salima North West Legislature Jessie Kabwira, MCP spokesperson who also speaks for the party on matters of women in Parliament.

“We are talking about a relationship of power relations here, between staff and members of parliament. There is a reason why we are called Honorables, what he (Hon. Mkandawire) did is uncalled for and I think we needed to give him a sentence that sends a message that you never do such kind of a thing.”

“As a person from opposition am now worried if I say something which Themba Mkadawire or the ruling party doesn’t like" she said, "What is to stop him? Is 90 days going to stop him from doing what he did?”

“I think he needed a stiffer punishment"

She went on “Themba Mkandawire is not just from any other party, he is from the ruling party so what example are they giving us. Are they telling us that now when a Parliamentary Staff is giving us calendars they should be shaking because there is a ruling party Parliamentarian in this House? And added that the ruling party (Democratic Progressive Party DPP) should come open to make an apology for the embarrassing action done by its member.

Unlike MCP reaction, PP Leader in the House, hon. Uladi Mussa a Salima South Parliamentarian said “Am satisfied with the punishment given” though he said “His conduct is totally out of order and uncalled-for we didn't expect a member of parliament beating a parliamentary worker, this is a savage way of living”

“He was not supposed to beahave as if he is at a beer hall” said Mussa

Balaka North parliamentarian and Leader of UDF, Lucius Banda made similar sentiments of Hon. Mussa “It’s quite unfortunate that an honorable member of parliament could not contain the emotions, I think the most important thing for we politicians need to do is to learn to contain our emotions. Everybody gets angry but to go that far to a person who has lesser power standing in the society I think it will be seen as one is taking advantage of his position to do bad things. So I believe in the interest of sanity and disciplining the speaker’s sentence deserves and I hope it will never happen again”

Hon. Themba Mkandawire's conduct has been condemned by many other parliamentarians whom others have described the assault as "Criminal act"

However, the assaulted Usher was not available to comment on what he makes of Speaker's ruling.

MSB Not For Sale

Parliament Block the Sale Until Committee Give a Go Ahead

The National Assembly has passed a motion restraining government from continuing with plans to sale Malawi Savings Bank (MSB) until determination is made by a relevant Committee if the sale of the bank is a necessary move.

On Thursday, Dowa West Parliamentarian Hon Dzonzi Kusamba brought in the House a motion during Private Members Motion where he moved that the House should resolve that the Sale of Malawi Savings Bank Limited be pended for the time being and that the matter be referred to the relevant Committee of Parliament (Budget Committee) for it to consult with stakeholders and report to the House.

When moving the motion, Dzonzi said the noble objectives of Post Office Savings Bank now Malawi Savings Bank Limited (MSB) established in 1910 by the colonial government are intact and yet to be achieved.

“But how can we achieve them if the Bank runs into private hands whose objective will be pure “profiteering”. Inquired hon. Kusamba who alleged the sale of Malawi Saving Bank Limited is propagated by few selfish individuals

Malawi government is planning to sale MSB for Conditionality of World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), that Malawi Government should not be running businesses such as bank and that MSB Ltd does not meet the requirement of BASEL II instituted by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (a framework that has been put in place to assist banks manage financial risks well by maintaining a certain level of capital, currently a minimum capital for banks at an equivalent of US$5million) 

Dowa West Legislature has argued that WB and IMF condition is “fraudulent” and achaic type of reasoning which denies Government to ably discharge its duties of providing social-economic services to the rural communities which may appear unprofitable in the eyes of private hands. 

On BASEL II, he said MSB meets the minimum capital requirement but slightly falls short to meet the optimum capital requirement in order to meet the prescribed liquidity and capital adequacy ratios. He even indicated that Malawi can do without implementation of BASEL II just like neighboring economies that are stronger and better than Malawi’s economy.

“The question on the same is this “why was BASEL I jumped from implementation? Why is Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) forcing local banks to comply with BASEL II without an opportunity of orientation BASEL I would have offered.”

Hon. Kusamba also named “Accumulated Bad Debts” as major reasons that is eroding the bank’s Capital. With certainty he pointed “bulk of the bank’s non-performing loans” belong to Mulli Brothers Limited. 

He said the remedy is that Government should intervene by having Mulli Brothers Ltd repay the debt and that the Bank should take over the assets against which Mulli Brothers Limited loan was taken on.

 “It is an open secret, that the Mulli Brothers Ltd was granted the Loan in question when DPP was in power and now that DPP is in power again, the Government wants the Bank sold, Really?” queried the parliamentarian while concluding that there is no need for Malawians lose a National Treasure just because Government “completely lacks any political will” to mitigate on this questionable sale.

When debating the motion, Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe clarified that it is not true that only Muli owe the bank as alleged by the member. He also promised an update of what is happening on that matter.

Goondwe irked members in the House when he mentioned that the matter of selling the bank at this time can only best be handled by lawyers and not National Assembly. “This is a legal matter it is not as easy as you think” 

Without delay, Salima South Parliamentarian hon. Uladi Mussa rise on point of order “The statement from the minister to say parliament is useless leaves a lot to be desired” he said, “Does the Minister know that parliament can impeach president? What is Malawi Savings Bank?”

Surprisingly, Leader of House Hon. Francis Kasaila also registered his support against sale of the bank “We in the business Committee of the house agreed that we need to bring this issue in the House so that the sale of the bank is done in transparent process.” He added that People from his Constituency are also against the sale of the bank.

Other parliamentarians including Salima North West, Jessie Kabwira and Salima Central, Felix Jumbe, in support of the motion as moved by Dowa West, said Malawi has been ranked one of the poorest countries because of such poor decisions which robe citizens “greatest treasure”. 

No Increment to Deferred Votes- Finance Minister

As Committee of Supply Deferred 2 More Votes on Monday

Finance, Economic Planning and Development Minister says he is not going to make any increment to votes being deferred by the National Assembly in the ongoing Committee of Supply.

On Monday evening the Committee of Supply has deferred two votes bringing total number of deferred votes to three following Road Fund Administration vote which was deferred on Friday for having meager allocation.

The two deferred votes are Directorate of Public Prosecution and State Advocate (DPP office) vote which has a revised allocation of K462.3 million from approved provision of K495.7 million and the Legal Aid Department vote which has been deferred by Finance Minister himself without explanation. The vote has an allocation of K210.4 million a revision from approved K227.3 million.

Goodall Gondwe

Reacting to Malawi Voice question if he is going to make some increment to the DPP office vote, Gondwe was quick to say No, no, no.., I hope to convince them some more

Gondwes response is apparent following Mondays Order Paper where Road Fund Administration vote which was deferred on Friday appeared having same figures of revised allocation of K23. 8 billion from approved provision of K25.87 billion.

The Committee of Supply on Monday deferred DPP office vote for having a reduction of up to K50 million. This prompted much debate in the house as opposition members felt the deduction could result into the interference with the work of DPP particularly on prosecution of ongoing cash gate cases.

Members of Parliament for Lilongwe Msinja South Lingson  Belekanyama, Lilongwe Mapuyu South Joseph Njobvuyalema as well as Salima South parliamentarian Uladi Mussa were among the first parliamentarians to inquire from the finance minister why DPP office has been given a meager allocation yet it is responsible in handling very important cases of Cash gate.

Uladi Mussa said the office needed more funding for its obligation of prosecuting cases and therefore allocating little resources to the office will result into inefficiency of government lawyers who may at times fail to attend court sessions for lack of resources like fuel.

Hon. Njobvuyalema at some point said allocating enough resources to DPP office is not only crucial for smooth prosecution of cash gate cases but also vital in bringing back donors confidence.

However, before deferring the vote Gondwe together with Minister of Justice and Constitution Affairs Samuel Tembenu maintained that the allocation was enough at the moment and assured that the allocated amount will not suffocate ongoing cash gate prosecution.

Gondwe said should the department say they want to have more money during the next four or five months Ministry of Finance will make money available to the department But for the time being I would not want to see money lie idle when it can be used somewhere

Only six votes are expected to be passed this Tuesday and later the committee will pass Supplementary Appropriation Bill.

Though the Committee of Supply managed to pass 14 votes on Monday, business of the committee was too slow as compared to Thursday and Friday sitting. This was because members had a lot of questions on how the Ministry of Finance arrived upon each vote allocated to government departments and ministries.

Kachama Gets An Easy Nod From National Assembly……Confirmed As Police IG

Kachama Gets An Easy Nod From National Assembly……Confirmed As Police IG

The National Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly confirmed the newly appointed Inspector General of Police, Lexten Kachama on the position.

Out of the 161 votes of members present in the House, 159 members had voted in favor of Kachama while 2 had voted to the contrary. There were 32 absentees.   

In accordance with Section 154 (2) of the Republican Constitution, Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Paul Chibingu had tabled the motion on Kachama’s confirmation. 

The Member of Parliament for Balaka North, Lucius Banda offered his secondment, paving way to the responses by spokespersons of MCP and PP who spoke in support for the motion while offering pieces of advice, notably that, the new IG should not show impartiality in his discharge of duty.  

During general debate, four MP’s; Martha Lunje of Nkhota-kota Central, Anna Kachikho of Phalombe North, Amon Nkhata of Kasungu Central and Uladi Mussa of Salima South had all their voices in high tone decorating the new appointee.    

Traced from the humble beginnings of constable ranking at the time he joined the Malawi Police Service on 2nd April, 1979 until the day of his appointment, 10th February, 2015 , Kachama had rose through the ranks way up to the top rank of Inspector General.

“Honorable Members, this means therefore National Assembly has today February 18, 2015 confirmed Lexten Kachama as Inspector General of Malawi Police Service.” Announced Speaker of National Assembly Richard Msowoya

The new Police IG made several achievements which among them earned him recipient of Long Service and Good Conduct Medal from the late His Excellency Professor Bingu Wa Mutharika on 5th March 2011 in Blantyre. And on 15th October 2014 he received a Presidential Police Medal from His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.

Born on June 30, 1958, Lexten Shame Kachama hails from Chidzenje village T/A Kalolo in Lilongwe district.

He is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) majoring in Human Resource Management from Share World Open University, Masters in Leadership and Change Management from Leeds Metropolitan University in conjunction with Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) and has Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Resource Development and Management from Share World Open University. 

Kachama is currently studying PHD in Strategic Management with Columbia Commonwealth University.  

  

Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Bill Passed Without Proper Oversight

As Uladi, Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament Says Some Provisions Contravenes with Constitution

Member of Parliament for Salima South Constituency Uladi Mussa has insisted that the bill ‘Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations has been passed in haste and the house failed to have a critical eye on some provisions that contains in the bill and those in the Malawi Constitution.

Mussa at the beginning when the bill was about to be presented by the Minister of Gender, Children Disability and Social Welfare hon. Patricia Kaliati pointed out that the proposed legislation should have been referred to Legal Affairs Committee of the house before debating it in the house.

“Even the Minister of Justice can agree with me” he said “am totally supporting this bill I don’t have any problem with it, but it is involving Section 22 of the constitution of the Republic of Malawi. Minister of Justice is fully aware of that legal necessity required to be done” 

He insisted “Am worried that we are violating our own constitution, this bill is proposing to change marriage age from 15 to 18 which we all agree but that is also in the constitution of the republic of Malawi and for that to happen requires amendment of the constitution.” And suggested, “After amendment of Constitution that will be a right time to bring the bill otherwise this bill will be null and void outside the parliament because the Act cannot be above the constitution”

When Minister of Justice and Constitution Affairs hon. Samuel Tembenu hold the floor, he clarified that the bill is not seeking to amend the Constitution “Actually the provision in the bill merely states that the age is subject to what the constitution says so there is no attempt or what so ever to amend  the Constitution”

Later in an interview Mussa maintained his argument based on Section 22 subsection 7 which stipulates “7. For persons between the age of fifteen and eighteen years a marriage shall only be entered into with the consent of their parents or guardians."

He therefore said "Amending that Section of Constitution we would have been absolutely sure that early marriages will stop and perpetrators penalized but as of now this bill is not stopping early marriage”

Malawi National Assembly Building Entrance

He also pointed out that he is not happy with provision that divorce of religious marriage also be done through the courts. He strongly said the bill should have cited that all marriages falling under ‘Religious marriages’ make divorce with consultations from clergy or churches officiated the engagement. He said as the bill stands now it is in conflict with some religious laws of some churches like Catholics that does not allow divorce and others like Islam which accepts divorce but given valid grounds like dishonesty and unfaithfulness of a marriage partner.

Reacting on the same, Chairperson for Legal Affairs Committee Hon. Peter Chakhwantha said at the same time as committee is contented with some provisions in the bill on protection of girl child and women, it also noted that the legislation contains issues that shall later be amenable to amendments and needed immediate correction.

“In this case there are so many areas in this bill that very soon we shall hear legal battles and challenges simply because we did not want to take our time to do homework properly”

He went on “We are not saying the bill is in its entirety wrong, but as member for Salima (Uladi Mussa) pointed out, we also as committee pointed out section 22 which clearly shows that this bill has grossly contravened the constitution”

As Chairperson for the Committee said his expectations were to see the government bringing the bill in the house by following standing order 125 where the bill was supposed to go through Clark of Parliament then sent to the relevant committee in this case Legal Affairs Committee to scrutinize it and make recommendation before debate in the house.

“The way this bill has been passed it has been a marathon and there was no room for those expected to bring controversial issues” he said

The Chairperson further observed that processes happening in this Meeting are short charging the entire essence of having standing orders “There are a lot of bypassing, maneuvers that does not want to recognize relevance of some procedures to be followed to avoid obvious issues that arise after the house short-circuited process.

House Adjourns Sine Die With Appraisal From Both Sides

The Malawi National Assembly adjourns Sine Die this afternoon with high appraise by all sides of the house pertaining to the level of debate in the house.

Leader of House Honorable Francis Lazaro Kasaila in his adjournment motion speech thanked all members for the fruitful deliberations and level of behavior shown in the house.