Speaker called to act on Zamba, Chikuni

 Forum for National Development (FND) has asked Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara to act on Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Colleen Zamba and Secretary for Energy Alfonso Chikuni for contempt of Parliament.

In a letter dated March 29 2023, FND national coordinator Fryson Chodzi called on the Speaker to uphold the law and protect the integrity of Parliament by bringing the duo to book.

Reads the letter in part: “Public officers clearly showing that they can ignore parliamentary summons and Parliament being powerless to take action, renders and reduces Parliament to a worthless institution with no powers to act within the laws.

“Unless Madam Speaker is protecting the SPC not to answer towards the allegations raised against her, we see no reason why your office cannot issue summons and warrants against the two individuals.

“Failure of Parliament to act on this matter is making us doubt the integrity of Parliament and its independence in providing checks and balances against corruption.

“So, we urge you to maintain the independence and integrity of Parliament at all times and issue warrants against Zamba and Chikuni immediately.”

Gotani-Hara on Thursday acknowledged receiving the letter from FND and that they would respond.

“I have just received the letter. We are discussing it, and we will communicate to FND over the same,” she said.

In a separate interview, Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nakhumwa backed FND’s move, arguing that nobody is indispensable under the laws of Malawi.

The matter raised by FND also threatened the approval of an allocation to the Office of the President and Cabinet in Parliament on Wednesday during the Committee of Supply as opposition legislators refused to approve Vote 090 of K19.8 billion over Zamba’s defiance of Parliament.

Th i s fol l owed Thyol o Central legislator Ben Phiri’s question on why the House should pass the OPC vote when its controlling officer refuses to appear before parliamentary committees.

Zamba, who is also National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) board chairperson, and Chikuni declined to appear before Public Appointments Committee ( PA C ) of Parliament in November 2022 where the SPC was summoned to respond to allegations that she bulldozed former Nocma acting chief executive officer Helen Buluma to dubiously award fuel contracts.n