The Malawi Parliament reopened today for the third sitting of its 52nd session, and the atmosphere in the House immediately turned solemn as MPs faced one of the most emotive issues on the agenda: the flood of Malawians returning home following xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Speaker Samir Suleiman opened the four-week meeting by presenting a packed program – unfinished business from previous meetings, a ministerial statement on inland water transport, committee reports, petitions, constituency statements and the usual round of questions from ministers.
New bills are also expected to come before the House rises.
Suleman praised the Public Accounts Committee and the ad-hoc committee probing the Chikangawa plane crash and said other committees should also be held to the same standard if Parliament's oversight power is to mean anything.
He also warned of absentee MPs and warned committees to follow proper channels when dealing with external stakeholders – and also broke the news that Lilongwe will host about 300 delegates for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Africa Region Conference on August 9-16 at the Bingu International Convention Centre.
- But Foreign Minister George Chaponda's statement on the repatriation of Malawians from South Africa dominated the House.
Chaponda's statement on the repatriation of Malawians from South Africa was discussed in the House
Opposition Leader Simplex Chithyola Banda reminded the House that Malawians helped build South Africa and described the treatment they were now being treated as a betrayal – pointing out that South African companies operating in Malawi rely on the goodwill of the same citizens who are now being attacked elsewhere. Malawians, he said, “will not fight back.”
Chithyola pressed the government to rely on Pretoria to provide protection and compensation to Malawians who lost property in the violence, and to budget appropriately to support returnees upon their return to Malawian soil.
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