Well, this is certainly a pain in the flesh of cannabis enthusiasts; I mean,
President Lazarus Chakwera’s decision to bounce the Cannabis Regulations Bill, popularly known as the Chamba Bill, back to Parliament. The bill seeks to legalise local chamba for commercial purposes.
When some quarters felt that everything was done and dusted, the President rose to the occasion to show who the real boss is. Quite interesting, more so because the one who was advancing the bill is a governing Malawi Congress Party legislator.
In fact, it is interesting because on the day the bill was passed by legislators, those from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) walked out of the august House.
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It is, therefore, governing party lawmakers who walked shoulder high when they passed the bill.
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But the light is at the very long end of the tunnel.
In the end, Chakwera has not pended his signature on the Cannabis Regulations Bill, barely three months after Parliament passed it in March this year.
Instead, the First Citizen has assented to 12 other bills except the chamba one.
The ‘lucky’ bills include the Competition and Fair Trading, Older Persons, Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Amendment, NBS Bank plc and National Bank of Malawi plc (Lake Malawi Water Supply Project) Loan (Authorisation) (Amendment) and some bills.
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What the President has done is a clear indication that he is willing to rebuke even governing party lawmakers when they pass bills under questionable circumstances. That is what leadership is all about; rising to the occasion and, with one stroke of the pen, showing the world that one is in control of national affairs.
However, I doubt if the President really read everything in the proposed bill. I really doubt.
I believe, instead, that he listened to some religious leaders who penned him on the issue.
After all, some members of the country’s clergy persuaded him not to assent to the bill on the basis that consultations were not done thoroughly.
And, sure enough, Archbishop Mark Kambalazaza, who is the chairperson for the Evangelical Association of Malawi, has confirmed that pastors sent the President a letter in which they registered their concerns on the bill. “We, indeed, through Pac [Public Affairs Committee], penned the President on the matter and hearing news that he hasn’t assented to the bill makes us happy. That’s wisdom and churches appreciate that very much.”
Buy, maybe, the writing was on the wall. More so because, on March 28 this year, the day the bill got lawmakers’ nod, Justice Minister Titus Mvalo stood in the House and asked that the bill be referred to the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament for further consultations before passing it. “I am proposing that the bill be referred to the Legal Affairs Committee for further scrutiny and consultations.”
The call fell on deaf ears as owner of the bill Peter Dimba insisted that Parliament had to proceed with the business of passing it, arguing that the committee already scrutinised the bill that same day.
Wait a minute! Thorough consultations conducted in one morning? But that is what Dimba, who represents Lilongwe South Constituency, said anyway. “The committee has already gone through the consultation process. So, let’s proceed.”
This week, he seemed not surprised with the President’s decision. “I cannot question the decision of the President. I trust his judgement on the matter.”
In the end, though, it is the DPP that is on cloud nine. Its spokesperson on legal matters Yusuf Nthenda claims that they have been vindicated. “We said it. This bill needs thorough consultations before it becomes law. There is a need for thorough consultations with all stakeholders but, sometimes, we question the government’s seriousness. When they take bills like these to Parliament, they often push them through without proper consultations, relying on their parliamentary majority.”
Whatever the case, delays to pass the bill would mean delays to embrace one more cash spinner—apart from tobacco, tea and the other key crops.
In the end, Mr and Mrs Poverty must be smiling from ear to ear, now that the couple’s expulsion from Malawi has been delayed—no one knows for how long.
