Since 1994, surveys have consistently indicated that Malawians are disillusioned and disenchanted with the conduct and performance of the Malawi Parliament as an institution, members of Parliament (MPs) as representatives of the voters, politicians and government officials. Two researchers found that it was a common complaint.
Among others, the surveys also reveal that people expected their MPs to be responsive, accountable and transparent; to visit their constituencies f requently and del i ver development benefits.
Most respondents accused MPs , especi a l ly those representing constituencies in rural areas, of rarely living in their there and, thus, had very little contact with their constituents. Thus, such members of Parliament were considered to be aloof ones, who never listened and hearkened to their constituents’ voices, wishes, needs, and demands. Hence the huge turn over every five years.
It i s c l ear that the Malawi National Assembly and individual MPs fail to effectively communicate, whence the wide gap between Parliament and the public. In some countries, this gap has already been, or is being, addressed.
For instance, the National Assembly of Zambia (NAZ) has established offices in all its 167 constituencies (Malawi, seven times smaller, but same population, has 229!), from where members of Parliament operate and serve the public irrespective of their party affiliation, and seek the opinion of constituents before going to Parliament.
From 1995, the Malawi National Assembly, too, planned to have pi l o t constituency offices, funded by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa), whose recurrent expenditure would later be integrated into the national budget, as part of national assembly infrastructure expenditure. This was one way of taking back parliament to the voter.
Like the parliaments of New Zealand, Australia, Britain, and South Africa, the NAZ has a Parliament Radio to broadcast parliamentary proceedings and other matters to do with the national assembly. Thus, dependence on the services and whims of the public broadcaster is curtailed.
In Namibia, that country’s citizens participate in the legislative processes through public hearings funded by the national assembly itself. To encourage unfettered and robust popular debate on bills and critical social issues during the public hearings, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) contracted a local legal organization to summarise bills and put them in a common person’s language.
Further, the Namibia National Assembly operates bus-housed Mobile Training Units (MTUs) replete with computers and a satellite uplink. The MTUs travel the length and breadth of Namibia exposing people to the country’s parliamentary website and encouraging MPs and civil society organisations to use it. Through the MTUs, common people’s comments on bills and any concerns are channeled to the right parliamentary committees and individual MPs who provide responses almost in real-time.
This innovative two-way participatory communication approach narrows the gap between the public and the parliament by taking the institution to their homes and communal places. Full citizen participation in political life, including the need to be consulted in the affairs of their parliaments, is one of the pillars of democracy.
As if that were not enough, the Namibia National Assembly runs the Constituency Channel (CC), a parliamentary radio and television broadcasting service funded by the NDI as part of the Namibian Parliament Constituency Outreach Programme, also funded by the NDI.
In Moldova and India, the parliaments set aside outreach and open-days. Once in a year parliamentarians are encouraged to bring to their offices their children and family for these to appreciate parliamentary work.
The Australian Parliament prov ides pol i t i c a l and parliamentary education to schools through parliamentary outreach programmes such as taking visitors on tours of the Parliament, coordination of community events and displays, and provision of political education to students. Such outreach activities rarely, if ever, happen in Malawi. So, take Parliament to the voter. Establish parliamentary office and mobile units in every constituency.
There, the discussion going on in Parliament can be translated into local languages as the Lost History Foundation wishes. So says our impeccable and unimpeachable Professor Ms Joyce Befu, the Grandest Achiever of All time (MEGA- 1), and MG 66. For more, read JDCS Vol.9 No 1-2.pdf
