Madam Speaker, we need recall provision

Ntchisi South legislator Ulemu Chilapondwa’s remarks in Parliament that cooking oil is for the elite because people in rural areas are not worried about cooking oil rather, they are worried about what he called “real issues”, has angered many Malawians.

Chilapondwa made the remarks in response to the Leader of Opposition, Kondwani Nankhumwa response to the State of the Nation Address (Sona).

Later, Chilapondwa apologised to Malawians although he was not sincere and remorseful in his apology as he tried to put the blame on others, saying he was misquoted.

His remarks about cooking oil and how the village folks don’t need cooking oil are reminiscent of former first lady Callista Chapola who, at the height of the fuel crisis in 2011, said people in the village do not need fuel and that probably those talking about fuel crisis were simply out to get her husband out of power.

There are so many Chilapondwas in Malawian politics and many of them are in Parliament representing Malawians without an idea of what their constituents really want and never consult their constituents before signing some policies that have a huge bearing on their constituents and the country as a whole.

As a representative of people, Chilapondwa and all MPs should know that they are accountable to their constituents who currently are feeling the pinch of rising prices of commodities, cooking oil inclusive. His remarks also show how detached most politicians are from what is on the ground otherwise, he would have known that even in the village people use cooking oil for mandasi, zitumbuwa and others which they sell to earn an income.

Chilapondwa’s remarks make one think about the repealed Section 64 of the Malawi Constitution which empowered constituents to recall non-performing MPs.

People like Chilapondwa should not be representing anybody save for themselves. His warped thinking is a danger not just to himself but more importantly to people he represents and the country as a whole.

Any MP with the representative role would not utter such sentiments because they would know that the rise in commodity prices signals an ailing economy that does not only affect the elite—actually it is felt more by the rural folks who often have limited sources of income.

Trying to dismiss that a large presidential motorcade is not a big issue and not worth parliamentary discussion also only shows that Chilapondwa does not understand his role as a legislator.

He does not understand that the bloated presidential motorcade means taxpayers are paying more, money which they could have probably used to purchase drugs for the hospitals, build better roads, and more schools, for example. He and others ought to be coming up with laws that reduce such extravagances.

It is quite unfortunate that people who are expected to speak and fight for Malawians are the least interested in doing what they were elected to do. What is sad is that our MPs look humble during campaign time but once elected, they become untouchable and unreachable to their people.

It is for this reason that maybe there is a need to find a way that empowers constituents to keep their MPs in check before the next elections and ensure that they do not depart from the representational role and start saying and doing things as they please.