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| National |
| House endorses committees’decisions |
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by
Zainah Liwanda, 23 February 2007
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04:55:08
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Parliament yesterday endorsed the validity and decisions of the Public Appointments Committee (Pac), the Budget and Finance Committee and the Legal Affairs Committee effective September 2005 amid resistance from the government side.
Leader of the House Henry Chimunthu Banda has since indicated consultations would be made for a way forward on the resolution.
Moving the motion, Mzimba West MP Loveness Gondwe said membership of the said committees established under the Constitution needs to be reviewed.
She explained that according to the Constitution, the committee’s membership is supposed to be renewed annually.
Gondwe also moved that membership to the Defence and Security Committee be reviewed and that parties should nominate members to the committee within 14 days from the date of passing of the resolution.
“Mr. Second Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that this House resolves that membership of the committees of the National Assembly established under section 56 (7) (a) of the Constitution, namely the Public Appointments Committee (Pac), the Budget and Finance Committee and the Legal Affairs Committee be validated effective 2005.
“That the House do resolve that the decisions arrived at by the said committees be validated effective September 2005,” reads the motion in part.
Seconding the motion, MP for Zomba Chingale Leonard Mangulama said as a legislative body, Parliament needs to comply with constitutional provisions, arguing renewal of membership to committees was overdue.
But the development did not go down well with the government side which described the motion as dubious and vowed not to support it, arguing it is a constitutional matter which cannot be changed through the back door.
Lands Minister Henry Phoya said the committees, according to the Constitution, were supposed to function for one year, arguing that all their decisions such as the impeachment procedures were invalid.
Minister in the President’s Office Responsible for Disaster Preparedness Richard Msowoya said the motion was a manifestation that Parliament “is indeed childish”.
“All what I am telling you, Mr. Second Deputy Speaker, is that all decisions and all those committee, all these years from September 2005, were illegal and therefore all decisions are illegal. What we should be saying how do we correct it,” said Msowoya.
The question was later put to a vote and it was passed.
But government asked for a roll-call.
The result was still in favour of those for the motion but government insisted that a two-thirds majority was not reached since the issue was of a constitutional nature.
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