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| National |
| ADMARC Bill passed,ADMARC Bill passed |
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by
Gedion Munthali,Gedion Munthali, 30 December 2003
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20:14:08
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Disregarding recommendations of the Agriculture Committee of the national assembly and opposition demands, government on Tuesday bulldozed its way and passed a bill to facilitate the commercialisation of Admarc. The opposition, which walked out of the House, has since said it will be seeking court redress.
Even a sudden power failure that lasted for close to an hour did not undercut government’s resolve to dispense with the bill. Speaker of the national assembly Davis Katsonga, whose handling of the House was instrumental in the express train passing of the bill, ordered that the House reconvene after resumption of power.
House reconvened, everything was highspeed. Pleas from committee chair Dzoole Mwale that the House could only adopt the report of his committee after a notice of one day was not heard. Another query from Rumphi West MP Mapesi Gondwe that time for the sitting had gone beyond schedule unprocedurally went unnoticed.
Reproaches by MCP chief whip Louis Chimango on Speaker Katsonga not to just yield to demands of the government to call for a vote on the report of the committee, and then the bill without allowing opposition MPs to make their representations were discounted.
Willpower frustrated and resolve shattered, it was time for MCP, Mgode and NDA MPs to walk out of the House in disgust. These were however sweet moments for the government benches and those of Aford. They chanted and cheered, mocking the opposition, paulendo, paulendo.
President of newly launched New Congress for Democracy Hetherwick Ntaba and his two lieutenants, Lilongwe City South East Sebastian Chikadza and Salima North West Kansichi Banda remained behind, but not in support of what was happening. He stood up during committee stage.
“I did not walk out because I wanted to express my concerns on the procedures being followed, the process and the bill. Why was the new Admarc registered before a bill was brought to the House?” questioned Ntaba. He was told to sit down after the government side said other members had already spoken on the issue. He tried to resist, but he capitulated in frustration.
“I have never seen UDF MPs as determined as today. Mr. Speaker you have also handled the House very well. It was a difficult day. But we were resolute. I congratulate all of you,” remarked leader of the House Thengo Maloya, when Katsonga, smiling, asked him if he had something to say after the bill was passed.
Even a team of young democrats, the only strangers of the day in the press gallery, kept yelling in excitement each time it was announced that the government side had won the vote. Interestingly, immediately after their thrill they would whisper in your ears to find out what had gone on.
But according to Chitipa East MP Peter Chiwona, who until last week was deputy leader of the opposition, the opposition will not take it laying down: “We are going to court. We knew they would throw all reason to the wind and bulldoze this thing. They must be taken to task why the registered Admarc Limited before a bill creating that structure was passed in the House.”
The sitting, which ended at 5:40 am — 40 minutes beyond schedule — in a mixed bag of feeling started at 9:30pm. Committee chair Dzoole Mwale set the tone of the day by presenting a report on the consultations his committee conducted through out the country.
Immediately the House adjourned for 2 hours - from 9:30 to 11:30 - to allow members read and digest a report. It was later adopted through what Chimango said was a “kangaroo vote” after Katsonga refused more debate on it. Its recommendations were, however, not included in the bill that was also passed in the same manner.
According to the report the major finding of the committee was that there was total confusion within members of the general public in terms of appreciating the difference between commercialisation and privatisation
“The bill must redrafted to include the number and names of those markets to be commercialized, the number and names of those markets to be left with the social functions, the creation of the ADMARC Trust must also be provided for in the Bill, and the establishment of the franchise system must be provided for and explained,” read the report.
The committee said it heard that government would create an ADMARC Trust that will be responsible for over 200 markets in the country, which are considered social markets. The remaining 80 markets will be under the new ADMARC Limited
“The committee observed that the ADMARC Trust, which is being talked about, is not provided for legally and most importantly financially in the 2003/2004 Budget. They wondered how it would perform the social roles once the Repeal Bill is passed between now and the next Budget 2003/2004?
“The committee said the people of Malawi recommended that civic education must be carried out on the difference between commercialisation and privatisation, the concept of and creation of the ADMARC Trust to take care of the social functions and the franchise system,” the report further read
It added: “The committee said people also observed that turn up at the public hearings on the Bill was poor because people say ADMARC was already registered on 19th November 2003 as commercial company so the consultations were a waste of time
“The committee also noted that commercialisation of ADMARC is donor driven and donors would not support an ADMARC Trust since they are against subsidy issues.”
The committee consulted PERMU officials from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, ADMARC general manager, Civil Society on Agriculture Network, Malawi Economic Justice Network, Malawi Health Equity Network and Reality Professional Management Training Consultancy.
Other people and groups consulted included religious leaders of various denominations, ward councillors, ordinary farmers, ADMARC staff, various political leaders, businessmen and women and T/As and chiefs. In total over 400 people appeared before the three subcommittees in the three regions
,Disregarding recommendations of the Agriculture Committee of the national assembly and opposition demands, government on Tuesday bulldozed its way and passed a bill to facilitate the commercialisation of Admarc. The opposition, which walked out of the House, has since said it will be seeking court redress.
Even a sudden power failure that lasted for close to an hour did not undercut government’s resolve to dispense with the bill. Speaker of the national assembly Davis Katsonga, whose handling of the House was instrumental in the express train passing of the bill, ordered that the House reconvene after resumption of power.
House reconvened, everything was highspeed. Pleas from committee chair Dzoole Mwale that the House could only adopt the report of his committee after a notice of one day was not heard. Another query from Rumphi West MP Mapesi Gondwe that time for the sitting had gone beyond schedule unprocedurally went unnoticed.
Reproaches by MCP chief whip Louis Chimango on Speaker Katsonga not to just yield to demands of the government to call for a vote on the report of the committee, and then the bill without allowing opposition MPs to make their representations were discounted.
Willpower frustrated and resolve shattered, it was time for MCP, Mgode and NDA MPs to walk out of the House in disgust. These were however sweet moments for the government benches and those of Aford. They chanted and cheered, mocking the opposition, paulendo, paulendo.
President of newly launched New Congress for Democracy Hetherwick Ntaba and his two lieutenants, Lilongwe City South East Sebastian Chikadza and Salima North West Kansichi Banda remained behind, but not in support of what was happening. He stood up during committee stage.
“I did not walk out because I wanted to express my concerns on the procedures being followed, the process and the bill. Why was the new Admarc registered before a bill was brought to the House?” questioned Ntaba. He was told to sit down after the government side said other members had already spoken on the issue. He tried to resist, but he capitulated in frustration.
“I have never seen UDF MPs as determined as today. Mr. Speaker you have also handled the House very well. It was a difficult day. But we were resolute. I congratulate all of you,” remarked leader of the House Thengo Maloya, when Katsonga, smiling, asked him if he had something to say after the bill was passed.
Even a team of young democrats, the only strangers of the day in the press gallery, kept yelling in excitement each time it was announced that the government side had won the vote. Interestingly, immediately after their thrill they would whisper in your ears to find out what had gone on.
But according to Chitipa East MP Peter Chiwona, who until last week was deputy leader of the opposition, the opposition will not take it laying down: “We are going to court. We knew they would throw all reason to the wind and bulldoze this thing. They must be taken to task why the registered Admarc Limited before a bill creating that structure was passed in the House.”
The sitting, which ended at 5:40 am — 40 minutes beyond schedule — in a mixed bag of feeling started at 9:30pm. Committee chair Dzoole Mwale set the tone of the day by presenting a report on the consultations his committee conducted through out the country.
Immediately the House adjourned for 2 hours - from 9:30 to 11:30 - to allow members read and digest a report. It was later adopted through what Chimango said was a “kangaroo vote” after Katsonga refused more debate on it. Its recommendations were, however, not included in the bill that was also passed in the same manner.
According to the report the major finding of the committee was that there was total confusion within members of the general public in terms of appreciating the difference between commercialisation and privatisation
“The bill must redrafted to include the number and names of those markets to be commercialized, the number and names of those markets to be left with the social functions, the creation of the ADMARC Trust must also be provided for in the Bill, and the establishment of the franchise system must be provided for and explained,” read the report.
The committee said it heard that government would create an ADMARC Trust that will be responsible for over 200 markets in the country, which are considered social markets. The remaining 80 markets will be under the new ADMARC Limited
“The committee observed that the ADMARC Trust, which is being talked about, is not provided for legally and most importantly financially in the 2003/2004 Budget. They wondered how it would perform the social roles once the Repeal Bill is passed between now and the next Budget 2003/2004?
“The committee said the people of Malawi recommended that civic education must be carried out on the difference between commercialisation and privatisation, the concept of and creation of the ADMARC Trust to take care of the social functions and the franchise system,” the report further read
It added: “The committee said people also observed that turn up at the public hearings on the Bill was poor because people say ADMARC was already registered on 19th November 2003 as commercial company so the consultations were a waste of time
“The committee also noted that commercialisation of ADMARC is donor driven and donors would not support an ADMARC Trust since they are against subsidy issues.”
The committee consulted PERMU officials from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, ADMARC general manager, Civil Society on Agriculture Network, Malawi Economic Justice Network, Malawi Health Equity Network and Reality Professional Management Training Consultancy.
Other people and groups consulted included religious leaders of various denominations, ward councillors, ordinary farmers, ADMARC staff, various political leaders, businessmen and women and T/As and chiefs. In total over 400 people appeared before the three subcommittees in the three regions
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