With the battle for National Assembly Speakers settled and the august House starting off in earnest, focus now turns to leadership of parliamentary committees where most of the gruelling legislative, oversight and accountability work happens.
Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman said on Tuesday that consultations to constitute the committees are at an advanced stage, with announcements expected before the Mid-Year Budget Review presentation tomorrow.
The House has at least 16 parliamentary committees.
They include four constitutional committees—Defence and Security, Legal Affairs, Public Appointments and Budget whose chairpersons wield substantial powers.
There are also three standing ones, namely Public Accounts, Business and Chairpersons committees.
The rest, Agriculture and Irrigation; Local Authorities and Rural Development; Health; Industry, Trade and Tourism; Media and Communication; Natural Resources and Climate Change; Education, Science and Technology; Government Assurances and Public Sector Reforms, Social and Community Affairs; Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises; and International Relations, are department or sector related.
The Speaker said the list of committees and their members should be released by today, adding that the process is being expedited as there are important things the committees need to attend to.
Probably one of the pressing issues is the confirmation of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) nominee Fostino Maere, who is yet to start work pending confirmation hearings by the Public Appointments Committee.
The coming Mid-Year Budget Review is another pressing matter that requires committees to scrutinize it, including a review of Money Bills.
There are currently three Bills appearing on the Order Paper, namely the European Investment Bank (Malawi M1 Road Rehabilitation II C) Loan (Authorisation), the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Dowa Town Water Supply and Sanitation Project) (Authorisation and Ratification), and the Opec Fund for International Development (Jenda Water Supply and Sanitation Project) Loan (Authorisation).
Suleman said it is also in the interest of Parliament to constitute the committees within set time-frames as there are Bills to be tackled, with the Budget Committee expected to take a leading role in scrutinising the reworked fiscal plan.
“So, hopefully tomorrow or after tomorrow, one of these days we should have the committees in place so that we can also give them time to go and vote for the chairpersons,” said the Speaker on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, political parties have confirmed submitting names for inclusion in various committees.
In an interview, Democratic Progressive Party whip Patricia Wiskes said the governing party already submitted names of MPs to be included in various committees.
Malawi Congress Party whip Moses Kunkuyu also said the main opposition party submitted names of MPs last week and is waiting for the Speaker’s office to announce.
UTM Party spokesperson Felix Njawala also confirmed that the party submitted names of MPs for the various committees.
Governance commentator Moses Mkandawire has since emphasised the need to set up the committees timely, saying they play a key role in formulation of laws, scrutinising bills, promoting accountability and making recommendations to the House.
