Parliament ’ s Public Accounts Committee ( PA C ) says there is nothing it can do as an oversight institution on the issue of K6.2 billion Covid-19 response funds after Parliament’s decision to suspend committee meetings.
PAC chairperson Shadreck Namalomba was reacting to social media criticism questioning why PAC, a constitutional committee mandated to provide financial oversight, was not taking an interest to summon public officials to account f o r Covid-19 funds.
He sai d Parliament secretariat also rejected his committee’s proposal to conduct meetings virtually.
Namalomba , who is Mangochi South West legislator (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP), said: “I have been pushing for virtual meetings, but Parliament Secretariat is non-committal. Imagine we failed to meet for three weeks last month. And it is not clear whether we will meet before the Mid-Year Budget Review Meeting.”
He said the proposed virtual meeting was meant to consider Treasury note, but considering that the K6.2 billion is an emerging issue, “it would have been prioritised”. Namalomba bemoaned
Parliament ’ slack of independence, observing that the Speakership was pro-government and that his committee’s membership is skewed in favour of Malawi Congress Party (MCP), a key partner in the Tonse Alliance administration.
H e s a i d : “Out of 21 members, only seven are from the opposition. I, therefore, would like to invite the media to promote independence of Parliament.”
The seven opposi t ion members of Parliament in PAC comprise five from DPP, one each from United Democratic Front and People’s Party which is in the governing alliance. MCP has five members and there are eight independents.
On the rejection of the proposal for PAC to meet virtually, Parliament spokesperson Ian Mwenye said the suspension of committee meetings was on account of Covid-19.
On J anuar y 12 2021, Parliament announced the suspension of all committee meetings due to an upsurge in Covid-19 cases. Parliament on February 3 also postponed the 2020/21 Mid-Year Budget Review Meeting of Parliament from February 8 to February 22.
