Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara Monday trashed the evidence submitted by Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa regarding his claims that Malawi is sending youths to Israel to fight in the Israel-Hamas war on the part of Israel.
Giving her determination at the end of Monday’s business, Gotani Hara said the evidence her office received from Nankhumwa did not support the allegations that the young Malawians were going to war in Israel.
Gotani Hara has since ordered that Nankhumwa withdraws the allegations and that they be struck off Parliament’s official publication, The Hansard.
“I wish to inform the House that the so-called evidence, which the Leader of Opposition has submitted, does not in any way support his assertion that the Malawi Government is sending some youths to go and join the war.
“Just for the interest of everyone, including our colleagues in the media, you can check The Hansard on page 2 of Thursday’s deliberations in terms of what was the bone of contention.
- Advertisement -
“It was the issue of young people joining war and if you go on page 6, when I also made a ruling on the same day, I said that the bone of contention was the issue to do with the war,” the Speaker said.
Nankhumwa was not in the House when Gotani Hara delivered her determination at 5pm.
Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda said the government is happy that “the truth has prevailed”.
“We knew that there was no evidence and we knew that those were lies. Because they were lies, we wanted Malawians to know the truth from Nsanje to Chitipa. There is no way a country like Malawi can be sending young people to join the Israeli-Palestinian War,” Chimwendo Banda said.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
According to The Hansard, Nankhumwa claimed that there was a chartered plane from a company called Arkia which was coming to Malawi to get 221 youths to Israel.
“What is more disgusting, Madam Speaker, is that when the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs was presenting the budget statement, he alluded to the fact that Malawi is in agreement with a certain country which he did not mention, to export labour to that country; about 5,000 or so.
“Now, Madam Speaker, a lot has been said about Malawians being sent to Israel. Some say they want to work in estates and others say they want to join the Israel-Palestine war,” Nankhumwa said.
