Africa-Press – Malawi. President Lazarus Chakwera did not go to Parliament to tackle questions from members of Parliament (MPs) for the whole 10 months of 2022, as lawmakers did not have enough questions for the Malawi leader, The Daily Times has established.
The only time Chakwera went to Parliament this year was on February 17, when he went there to respond to questions on the State of the Nation Address which he presented on February 3.
Parliament spokesperson Ian Mwenye said Tuesday that the august House did not have the right number of questions to warrant the summoning of the President. Mwenye said the House only received two questions against the minimum five, as stipulated by Parliamentary Standing Orders.
According to Section 70(A) of the Parliamentary Standing Orders, questions to the President shall be submitted by a member to the Speaker and a minimum of six working days shall be allowed before the President answers the question.
The section adds that the Business Committee shall examine the notices of the questions before they are forwarded to the President. Presidential Press Secretary Anthony Kasunda said Chakwera has not changed his policy regarding answering questions in Parliament.
According to Kasunda, Chakwera remains ready to go to Parliament and tackle questions once summoned by the House to do so following laid out procedures. But Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa Tuesday said the lawmakers have not run out of questions for the President.
According to Nankhumwa, about 10 questions for the President were brought to the Business Committee of Parliament, adding that, after thorough scrutiny, some fell off because committee members felt they could be tackled by ministers.
He added that during the year, there was also a time the committee approved the required number of questions but that the President had travelled and, by the time he returned, the issues had been addressed, hence they fell off.
“It must be noted that questions to the President are not the task of opposition lawmakers only. That is why during the previous appearances by the President, you might have seen that some questions came from the government side.
“Again, we also need to borrow a leaf from other countries, where the President just walks into Parliament and answers questions without members of Parliament sending the questions in advance. With such an arrangement, there is no minimum or maximum number of questions that are needed. Even with three questions, you can still ask the President. So, that Standing Order is also a deterrent to the whole process,” Nankhumwa said.
Meanwhile, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency Executive Director Willy Kambwandira described the development as a “missed opportunity for Malawians to ask questions through their elected leaders and hold the President to account for his actions” and decisions.
In his inauguration speech on July 6 2020, Chakwera promised to give Malawi his best and serve as a servant of Malawians. “More importantly, I promise to set a good example of submitting myself to the constitutional processes, provisions and institutions that are designed to ensure that the President and Vice President are always at their best.
“This means that, as required by law, I will make a full declaration of my assets each year; I will go to Parliament to be questioned by the people about my handling of State affairs…,” Chakwera said. During 2021, Chakwera went to Parliament on a number of occasions to tackle questions from lawmakers.
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