Revolver scare at Parliament
There was a security scare in Parliament in Lilongwe yesterday after a revolver was confisticated by the police off a government member of Parliament (MP) as he entered the premises.
When he rose on a point of order and brought the issue to the attention of the House as MPs debated the 2015/16 Mid-year Budget Review Statement, Lilongwe Msozi South MP Vitus Dzoole-Mwale (Malawi Congress Party-MCP) asked Speaker Richard Msowoya to adjourn the debate for the day.
“One MP has been caught with a gun… and he is from the government side. We wonder whether this House is secure [now],” Dzoole-Mwale stated, to some gaps of shock among some MPs.
He added that the situation seemed more risky because there had been two power black-outs in the House earlier.
The first power outage l a s t ed about thr e e minutes and the other for only half a minute. On both occasions, m a i n l y o p p o s i t i o n MPs t a u n t e d t h e i r government colleagues over a system failure that is symptomatic of an administration failing to run efficiently.
However, the Speaker q u a s h e d D z o o l e – Mwale’s proposal for an adjournment of the debate, explaining that an opposition member like him cannot move a motion on a Government Business Day.
Msowoya added that the situation was under control because the gun was in the hands of the police, who would check whether the owner had a licence for it.
But Dzoole-Mwale stood up again before the Speaker forced him to sit down in mid-sentence, saying the point of order had not been given to the MP for the second time.
“Akudelera ameneyo [he is being disrespectful],” some MPs o n t h e government side chimed in, as others tried to prod the Speaker into evicting Dzoole-Mwale from the House for appearing to talk back to the Speaker.
MPs are subjected to a security check as they enter Parliament premises and no MP is allowed to take a firearm differences. He said let us forgive each other and move forward.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of the committee told The Nation that the IG and his team defended their action by citing Section 152 of the Constitution which gives the Malawi Police into the House premises.
When Salima South MP Uladi Mussa (People’s Party-PP), who is his party’s leader in the House and a former minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, said even if the firearm is licensed, the concerned MP was supposed to declare it to the security officers as he approached the Parliament main entrance.
The Speaker quickly quashed that thinking, stressing that the Standing Order bars any MP from entering the premises with a firearm.
The revolver-owner was not identified yesterday.
Cabinet ministers and MPs are among people privileged to apply to possess firearms. When they are given such licences, the guns need to be registered with the Malawi Police Service.
