House in early adjournment
Parliament yesterday adjourned early after failing to reach an agreement on how to proceed with business after Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe refused to commit to realign some votes in the budget before getting legal advice.
Members of Parliament (MPs) from both opposition and government side were, among other things, pushing for their salary increment.
At the start of yesterday’s business, Gondwe asked the House to give him time to consult before signing an agreement on what he discussed with the MPs relating to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), boreholes allocation, the K50 billion budget cut and salary increment for legislators.
On Tuesday, the MPs took to task Gondwe and Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Kondwani Nankhumwa over boreholes.
They also queried why some district councils received in full CDF allocations whereas others did not.
Yesterday, the legislators said they were not comfortable to proceed with business because Gondwe refused to sign an agreement on what they discussed.
For over 15 minutes, First Deputy Speaker Esther Mcheka Chilenje pleaded with the MPs to continue with business of the day. She said the issues could be tackled later, but the MPs refused until the Speaker had to suspend the House for 30 minutes.
Standing on a point of order, Dowa East MP Richard Chimwendo Banda (Malawi Congress Party-MCP), asked Mcheka Chilenje to suspend the proceedings to allow representatives of the legislators to engage Gondwe.
After several points of order, the First Deputy Speaker suspended proceedings.
Leader of the House Kondwani Nankhumwa then asked the First Deputy Speaker to adjourn the House early to allow the two sides to discuss issues at hand.
