It was not all rosy for Mzimba North Parliamentarian in the August House on Thursday afternoon when the Government side led by the Leader of the House, Richard Chimwendo Banda pressed the legislator firmly to provide tangible evidence on the allegations Mzimba North made in the morning regarding the K30 Billion said to have gone missing at the ministry of Agriculture.
In his statement in the morning, Yeremiah Chihana (AFORD) Member of Parliament for Mzimba North Constituency alleged that the K30 billion which was meant for Affordable Inputs Program for 2022/23 farming season was stolen, the remarks that did not go down well with the government side in the house, prompting the side to request the Speaker of the National Assembly, Catherine Gotani Hara to order the Parliamentarian to bring into the August House evidence that the money was really stolen.
Taking MP Chihana from one corner to another in the afternoon, Leader of the house, Richard Chimwendo Banda, Government Chief-whip, Jacob Hara, and Finance Minister, Sosten Gwengwe consistently pleaded with the Speaker of the House to request the legislator to provide evidence on the alleged missing money as he was guided to do during the morning session of the parliamentary deliberation which is in its fourth day since was commenced for Midterm Budget Review.
Leading the Government side, Chimwendo said; “Madam Speaker, the Honorable Member in the morning mentioned about K30 billion being stolen two or three times in his statement and was ordered to bring evidence right here this afternoon. He must produce the evidence, failing which the house would not continue its deliberation until the recorded speech is replayed here for justification.”
The matter took some minutes leaving the Speaker with no choice but to rule that the speech on record be replayed, the play that proved that Chihana really made the allegation.
Speaker of Parliament has since ordered Chihana to take before the house his evidence on Friday, November 18,2022, failing which he stands to face disciplinary action.
In the same afternoon, the Mzimba North MP was also ordered to withdraw the morning statement he made that Government of Malawi has rebuked the Government of Morocco that has assisted the country with 10,000 metric tonnes of blended fertilizer for AIP, an order the Parliamentarian abided to.
