Chaos in Parliament over Access to Information Bill: Deputy Speaker suspend deliberations

Disagreement erupted in Parliament on Wednesday between government lawmakers and those from opposition over the much awaited Access to Information (ATI) Bill forcing the Second Deputy Speaker of National Assembly Clement Chiwaya to suspend the house for 30 minutes.

The development comes barely days after governments MPs deferred the ATI Bill to later day to allow the responsible Minster to do consultations.

The whole issue started when Leader of government in the house Dr. George Chaponda presented order paper indicating that the house should proceed to other bills leaving out the deferred bill.

This did not please the opposition MPs who asked for an explanation from Chaponda on the way forward of the deferred Access to Information Bill.

This was backed by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) MP for Dedza Juliana Lunguzi who said the Bill has been delayed in enough and it’s now time for the house to pass.

Lunguzi asked to Chaponda to openly tell Malawians that the DPP administration is not willing to pass the Bill.

After lengthy disagreements, chiwaya suspended the house to allow leaders from both side to meet and map the way forward.

Meanwhile MISA-Malawi has expressed shock over the stand taken by government.