Democracy to serve people—Malawi Speaker

Malawi’s Speaker of Parliament Henry Chimunthu Banda says democracy only works when parliamentarians serve the people.

Chimunthu Banda was speaking in the northern Malawi district of Rumphi on Saturday during the commemoration of International Day of Democracy.

The day, which was proclaimed in 2007, falls on September 15 every year and Malawi decided to commemorate it on September 22.

“We are able to deduce that the unique role of Parliament in a democracy is to serve and represent the people. Parliament, as we all know, has a legitimate role to play in a democracy because of the fact that it is the only institution that is given the mandate through elections where the representative of the people have the right to make laws, pass government budgets, scrutinise, amend legislation and taxation, as well as exercise oversight of the Government ministries,” said Chimunthu Banda.

He said democracy is the system of organising and distributing power among people on one hand and the State on the other.

“This is why democracy is defined as a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Therefore, we all need to appreciate that democracy is a system or type of government based on the people’s consent, will, participation and the understanding that benefits go to the people,” he said.

Members of Parliament from various parties such as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), People’s Party (PP), United Democratic Front (UDF) and Malawi Congress Party attended the event.

There was also a panel discussion where
the public had an opportunity to quiz parliamentarians on the role of democracy.