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President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has assured Malawians that the long awaited Access to Information Bill will be tabled during this sitting of parliament parrying away concerns raised by some quarters in the country.
Mutharika said this today in the August House in Lilongwe during the official opening of the 46th sitting of Parliament under the theme “Building Resilience for Sustainable Development”.
“Mr. Speaker, Sir, this sitting or Parliament will play a very critical role in strengthening our legal framework. You will pass very important bills that Malawians are waiting for.
“Some of the bills to be tabled during this Session include the long awaited Access to Information Bill; Communications Bill; the Credit Reference Bureaus Bill; the Land Bill; the Customary Land Bill; and the Payment Systems Bill. I am certain that it is in our interest to support and pass these bills because Malawi, our country needs them,” said Mutharika.
Turning to the impending hunger which according to the reported is expected to affect close to 3 million Malawians, Mutharika assured Malawians that that no Malawian will die of hunger.
“Government has developed a Food Insecurity Response Plan to provide humanitarian assistance to the affected people. The response plan requires a total of US$146.38 million.
“I am pleased to report that so far, the World Bank, the European Commission, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, and Italy, have provided assistance amounting to US$40.86 million. Through this Parliament, we wish to register our thanks to the above mentioned development partners. With this support, the resource gap is now US$105.52 million. I reiterate the Malawi Government’s further appeal for humanitarian assistance,” said Mutharika.
Mutharika also said that out of the 500 metric tons needed to support the hunger stricken families in the country, government has procured 300 metric tons.
“In addition, using our own resources, we are buying 26,000 metric tons of maize through ADMARC at a cost of K3.5 billion locally.
“We have also bought 30,000 metric tons of maize from Zambia. Further, the National Food Reserve Agency is procuring 25,000 metric tons to supplement the 66,000 metric tons it already had. Mr. Speaker Sir, we will have enough food for our people,” said Mutharika.
Meanwhile Parliament has been adjourned to Monday afternoon next week where members are expected to starting adding the voices on Mutharika’s speech starting with the leader of Opposition Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.
