Lilongwe, February 26, 2016: Parliament on Thursday passed two separate motions aimed at allowing operational independence of the National Assembly and a more independent office of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Ntchisi North legislator, Boniface Kadzamira, moved the motion seeking operational independence of the National Assembly and sought review of some laws that he said were in conflict with the independence of the institution in discharging its duties.
Kadzamira observed that there was undue interference from the other branches of government and he proposed that the matter be referred to the Legal Affairs Committee of the House for thorough review.
The legislator cited the tenets of separation of powers provided for in Sections 7; 8 and 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, and the provisions of Section 183 (3) (d) of the same as his basis for the motion.
He proposed that the House should resolve that “all necessary steps be put in place to ensure that the National Assembly has operational independence institutionally without having to rely on directions and undue interference from the other branches of government”.
The House debated and passed the motion before referring it to the Legal Affairs Committee for further scrutiny.
Kadzamira later told journalists in an interview that he was very impressed with how the House had seen it fit to pass the motion which he said aimed at ridding unnecessary hindrances that stood in the way of the operations of the national Assembly.
Said Kadzamira: “Parliamentary committees have been failing to operate because Treasury has always controlled Parliament funding contrary to the provisions of the Constitution in Section 183.
“So if the motion gets drafted into a bill and is eventually passed into a law, Parliament will have its own account as stipulated in the constitution and that will ease our operations.”
Later in the day, Parliament also passed a motion seeking to ensure total independence and tenure of office of the Director and Deputy Director of the ACB by amending Section 5 (1) of the Corrupt Practices Act.
Member of Parliament for Lilongwe South West, Peter Chakhwantha, moved the motion which the House passed after a rigorous debate.
The motion sought that an Amendment Bill on the cited Section of the Act be drafted forthwith and presented to the House to transfer the powers of appointing the said ACB office bearers to the Public Appointment Committee of Parliament.
It further sought that the appointment should be based on merit and through an open recruitment process and that the Director be reporting and answerable to Parliament through the Public Appointment Committee.
The parliamentarians observed that the Amendment would grant the office of the ACB total independence to investigate and bring to book anybody in conflict with the Act regardless of his or her status.
Another motion seeking the House to resolve that government should legalize the growing and usage of industrial hemp and recognize the plant as an agricultural cash crop was not tabled in the House as the mover, Ntchisi North parliamentarian, Boniface Kadzamira, was reported to have gone to a clinic.