Africa-Press – Malawi. President Lazarus Chakwera has snubbed Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa’s request for him to appear in the House to respond to two motions. This comes as Nankhumwa wrote President Chakwera last week to respond to the scarcity of maize, fertilizer, and acute forex shortages.
In the other motion, he demanded that Chakwera give reasons for his government’s insistence on using the national identity card as the only document to register in the voter’s roll amidst the challenges facing the exercise.
However, presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda says the president cannot meddle in legislative affairs. “The two motions were defeated, and the President cannot impose himself on Parliament. When there is a consensus, the President gets a communication from the office of the Speaker,” Kasunda told Zodiak online.
But Nankhumwa told The Maravi Post in an interview on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, that the motion seeks to call the presence of Chakwera in the August house to address inquiries and provide clarification on national issues such as lack of maize at ADMARC depots,collapse of AIP and lack of forex to purchase essential commodities like drugs in our hospitals.
Nankhumwa requested Chakwera to intervene in the house proceedings by engaging his members to allow the house to uphold democratic proceedings. He however condemned the leader of the house Richard Chimwendo Banda for coaching his Tonse Alliance lawmakers to defeat the motions using WhatsApp groups.
But Chimwendo refused to comment on Nankhumwa’s allegations, “No comment, I already spoke in the house”. This week, Parliament defeated two motions including the use of National Identity Cards for voting during elections and the summoning of Chakwera to the August House for unprepared questions.
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