President clarifies CoP hiring

President Peter Mutharika has clarified his recent appointment of former Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs chief legislative counsel Fiona Kalemba as the new Clerk of Parliament (CoP).

This follows controversy surrounding the appointment which alleges that she did not come first in the interviews conducted by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).

Speaking at Mangochi Old Airport Ground where he addressed a development rally on Saturday, the President said he was directly responding to sentiments made by People’s Party (PP) leader in Parliament Uladi Mussa that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration hates the Northern Region, especially in terms of appointments.

In his address monitored on taxpayer-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) television, Mutharika said Mussa is attacking him personally in the Weekend Nation of November 14 2015 by accusing him of being nepotistic in his appointment of CoP at the expense of a person from the Northern Region who allegedly topped the list of candidates after selection interviews.

Said the President: “There is nobody in this country who knows how to draft bills more than Mrs Fiona Kalemba and that is why I chose her.

“To be honest to God, I don’t even know where she comes from. I have never interacted with her.”

Mussa, in an interview with our sister newspaper Weekend Nation, while saying that he does not understand why the appointing authority hates people from the Northern Region, said he is particularly appalled by the way the appointment of the CoP was done and it’s quite disheartening and painful.

Kalemba becomes the second female CoP since independence after Matilda Katopola who left office acrimoniously in 2010 and has since bagged herself about K70 million from the government as compensation for unfair dismissal.

Kalemba’s profile on LinkedIn indicates that her skills are in the areas of legislation, legislative research, legislative relations, policy analysis and legal research.

While a CoP is appointed by the President following recommendations from the PSC, the officer works under the direction of the Speaker.