Bingu should fire his front bench
I have never witnessed a miserable perfomance from a political party than what came out today in Parliament. First whoever decided that the matter on Anita Kalinde should come for debate in the whole house should be fired from the party. That one is an agent of confusion and really does not wish this administration well.
After bringing the matter in the House, Government benches were not at all prepared for the onslaught they had set themselves for, from the Robert Chasowa saga to the actual process.
For a Government that has spent a huge sum on Professor Peter Mutharika, Minister of Foreign Affairs to convince foreign capitals that we mean well, the questions raised by Clement Chiwaya and Dr. Cassim Chilumpha and the subsquent reaction from Leader of the House Dr. George Chaponda and Goodall Gondwe made Government image look very bad.
They might have suspended Kalinde, but they lost the moral and procedural battle. They only reminded Malawians of the time John Tembo and George Ntafu were too strong to reason or let alone see sense in pretending to follow procedure.
The Kangaroo court that Parliament turned itself into, ochestrated by a Government in majority has only served to remind Malawians of the arrogance of the party. Something the President and his Government does not need now.
I wont be suprised if people start asking questions on rule of law if a whole elected member of Parliament can be prosecuted, judged and sentenced by a Legislative arm of Government without recourse to rules of natural justice.
And this was happening during the 16 days of activism against Gender based violence.
People like Grace Chiumia who made her name as Obama should be ashamed to be called Honourable, she passed judgement without recourse to the facts.
The Speaker too was a huge let down, he is under intense political pressure to prove his loyalty but he needs to remain steadfast to avoid becoming one of the worst and biased Speakers in our political history. He needs to take up responsibility.
In the final public vote: Kalinde has emerged a victim of a powerful Government and I will not be suprised if she is voted back for slapping an unpopular Government.
As 2014 is only months away, there is a great need for new strategic thinking in DPP and Government as most of the old guards have shown they still practice dirty politics. Peter Mutharikas promise of a clean campaign would sound hollow. It was good he absented himself from the useless damaging process.
By 2014, I can assure anybody the walk out that happened today by over 40 members of the DPP would be real.
My advice to the President, the whole front bench in Parliament has not idea or political strategy except to damage Government reputation more as one that does not respect the basic rule of law, even if laws were made in Parliament!
After bringing the matter in the House, Government benches were not at all prepared for the onslaught they had set themselves for, from the Robert Chasowa saga to the actual process.
For a Government that has spent a huge sum on Professor Peter Mutharika, Minister of Foreign Affairs to convince foreign capitals that we mean well, the questions raised by Clement Chiwaya and Dr. Cassim Chilumpha and the subsquent reaction from Leader of the House Dr. George Chaponda and Goodall Gondwe made Government image look very bad.
They might have suspended Kalinde, but they lost the moral and procedural battle. They only reminded Malawians of the time John Tembo and George Ntafu were too strong to reason or let alone see sense in pretending to follow procedure.
The Kangaroo court that Parliament turned itself into, ochestrated by a Government in majority has only served to remind Malawians of the arrogance of the party. Something the President and his Government does not need now.
I wont be suprised if people start asking questions on rule of law if a whole elected member of Parliament can be prosecuted, judged and sentenced by a Legislative arm of Government without recourse to rules of natural justice.
And this was happening during the 16 days of activism against Gender based violence.
People like Grace Chiumia who made her name as Obama should be ashamed to be called Honourable, she passed judgement without recourse to the facts.
The Speaker too was a huge let down, he is under intense political pressure to prove his loyalty but he needs to remain steadfast to avoid becoming one of the worst and biased Speakers in our political history. He needs to take up responsibility.
In the final public vote: Kalinde has emerged a victim of a powerful Government and I will not be suprised if she is voted back for slapping an unpopular Government.
As 2014 is only months away, there is a great need for new strategic thinking in DPP and Government as most of the old guards have shown they still practice dirty politics. Peter Mutharikas promise of a clean campaign would sound hollow. It was good he absented himself from the useless damaging process.
By 2014, I can assure anybody the walk out that happened today by over 40 members of the DPP would be real.
My advice to the President, the whole front bench in Parliament has not idea or political strategy except to damage Government reputation more as one that does not respect the basic rule of law, even if laws were made in Parliament!
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