MIM takes credit for improved debate in Parliament

Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) has claimed credit for improved quality of deliberations in the National Assembly in the recent Budget Meeting of Parliament because it drilled members of Parliament (MPs) in how to perform the oversight roles.

MIM director of strategy and business development Margaret Sikwese said yesterday MIM has been training MPs since they got elected to Parliament through the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections.

She said: “If you were following the just-ended Budget Sitting of Parliament, you will find that the budget was scrutinised by the MPs and we [MIM] feel that we are a part of that because of the training we have been offering them that has enabled them to understand oversight role, holding government accountable among other responsibilities.”

Sikwese was speaking on the sidelines of the opening of a fourth cohort of Parliamentary Training Programme at MIM campus at Kanengo in Lilongwe.

Speaker of Parliament Richard Msowoya said it is important to orient MPs when they get elected into the National Assembly to familiarise them with business and other procedures in the House.

The training sessions for MPs are being funded by Malawi Government unlike in the past when the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) sponsored the same, according to Msowoya.