Minister irks MPs
Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Allan Chiyembekeza on Monday came under attack for his lukewarm responses to questions from members of Parliament(MPs) who accused him of being insensitive and dodgy on issues of national importance.
Chiyembekeza delivered a 50-minute long ministerial statement outlining government’s plans to buy maize to cover production deficit and the state of the tobacco industry. He also responded to requests from MPs that Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) should be financially empowered to buy maize from farmers before traders move in.
However, on several occasions, Chiyembekeza asked the MPs to request for logistical information from offices such as World Food Programme (WFP) for the distribution plan for relief maize during the lean months.
On the request that sugar producer Illovo Sugar (Malawi) Limited should be allowed to grow maize to replenish Strategic Grain Reserves (SGRs), Chiyembekeza asked MPs whose constituences are close to Illovo operations to personally make the requests.
Such responses irked the MPs, prompting Dedza East MP Juliana Lunguzi (MCP) to describe Chiyembekeza’s responses as insensitive.
Said Lunguzi: “I have a lot of respect for the minister, but I find his responses insensitive. We are asking him to negotiate on behalf of Malawians with Illovo Company, we ask him to provide us with information on distribution and he says we should go to WFP. Honestly, how many people can go to WFP to request information? This government needs to stop taking Malawians for granted.”
When Chiyembekeza avoided revealing what happened to tractors which were allocated to district councils for use by farmers’ cooperatives, but have since been sold, Dedza North West MP Alekeni Menyani (MCP) accused him of being dodgy.
Said Menyani: “I asked the question a long time ago, but he is deliberately ignoring it. The tractors are being sold instead of being distributed to cooperatives and he has said nothing.”
However, on the intervention of Mwanza Central MP Davis Katsonga (DPP), Speaker Richard Msowoya scrapped off the word ‘dodgy’ as unparliamentary.
In response to the attacks, Chiyembekeza said: “I am sorry if I sounded like I am insensitive. But what I am trying to say is that we are in this problem together. What is it that you are doing to resolve the problem that has befallen this country? This is not a government problem, this is not my problem. It is our problem.”
On the question of the tractors, Chiyembekeza said since the issue was not part of his ministerial statement, Menyani should submit a separate question if he wanted to receive a comprehensive response. n
