MP makes fun of Mutharika’s address
Ntchisi North member of Parliament (MP) Boniface Kadzamira yesterday stirred the hornet’s nest when he made fun of President Peter Mutharika’s State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Kadzamira said the statement can only qualify as state of the manifesto address (Soma) as it lacked substance and fell short of inspiring hope among the citizenry.
He said: “I wish to commend the President for delivering a brilliant Soma. I’m saying Soma, which means state of the manifesto address whose aim is to bring excitement among party supporters.”
But this did not go down well with deputy government chief whip Grace Chiumia who stood on a point of order, pleading with the First Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Esther Mcheka-Chilenje to rule Kadzamira out of order.
Chiumia argued that it was out of order for the legislator to describe the President’s address as Soma.
State of the Nation Address is what the term describes – STATE OF THE NATION. The address tackles the present state of the nation and the way forward. Achievements registered, challenges and how you look forward into the future. I have never seen any SONA different from this. A few years ago I was one of the authors of the document called State of the Environment in Malawi. It made me understand what SONA means. I am sure Dr. Chakwera knows this if he has read previous SONAs.