By Wezzie Gausi:
Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has written Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara, demanding the removal of Mark Botomani as Public Accounts Committee (Pac) chairperson and as a member of the committee.
Parliament spokesperson Ian Mwenye confirmed that the office had received the letter from the former governing party.
He said since receiving the communication, the office of the Speaker has been engaging with the concerned parties.
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“It is the wish of the office of the Speaker to have this issue resolved as soon as possible. Once consultations are finalised, a determination will be made in line with relevant Standing Orders,” Mwenye said.
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DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba said he could not comment on the matter.
Recently, Pac members elected Botoman as the committee’s chairperson. He was earlier in January fired from the party.
According to parliamentary Standing Orders, allocations of committee members are done by the Business Committee, but political parties only propose names.
Botomani said he was aware of the letter but declined to comment on the matter.
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According to the Malawi Electoral Commission Act, one’s party affiliation status is determined by the commission when it announces the election results.
The Act further implies that no one can assign a Member of Parliament a status contrary to what Mec declared, unless they decide to join another party or become independent.
It adds that the Speaker has no mandate to declare a member independent if that member has not indicated the same to her.
According to the Act, being fired from a party does not affect one’s status in Parliament because no party is mandated by any law to decide on the status of any Member of Parliament.
