Parliament Reject to Amend ACB Appointment Bill

By: Andrews Cane Chilapondwa

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) for Lilongwe South West Parliamentarian Peter Chakhwantha presented a drafted amendment of Section 5(1) of the Corrupt Practices Act in which he proposed that the appointment of both Director and Deputy Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) should be done by the Public Appointments Committee of Parliament but not the President.

He also proposed that the appointments should be done on merit and through an open recruitment process and that the Director must be reporting and answerable to Parliament through the Public appointments committee.

Speaker of Parliament Richard Msowoya called for a roll call voting system which saw Government side registering 82 votes against Opposition’s 75 votes, with 34 absentees.

In his remarks, Msowoya said the bill to amend the act was defeated.

“We cannot continue with the bill because it has been defeated,” said the Speaker.

Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera was disappointed with Government’s decision to reject the amendment of the bill.

“We thought Malawians will be the biggest winners but they have been denied the chance of justice in,” he said.

He blasted Government for not doing enough in fighting corruption in the country.

“They are Chameleons for changing their mind on fighting against corruption by rejecting the bill,” he added.

Leader of the opposition in the house added that despite the defeat, MCP and other opposition parties will keep on fighting Government for the betterment of Malawians by bringing motions on various issues in the parliament.

Tempers were flying high in the Legislatures house as the opposition benches continued to protest Government’s victory on the bill and it took Msowoya’s efforts to restore peace in the house.

This means that Malawi President will still be appointing ACB Director General and Deputy.