Speaker of the National Assembly Catherine Gotani Hara has ordered Member of Parliament for Mzimba North Yeremiah Chihana to bring evidence to the house on allegations he made that government has stolen K30 billion meant for the Affordable Inputs Programme.
Chihana in his contribution to the statement issued by Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale, alleged that government should account for the missing K30 billion that was stolen to ensure beneficiaries of the programme access the inputs as planned.
But standing on a point of order, the Leader of Government Business in the House, Richard Chimwendo Banda, asked for evidence of the alleged theft saying Parliament is a House of records and no allegations should form part of the proceedings.
On his part, Chihana denied saying the word ‘stolen’ that prompted the Speaker of Parliament to order a replay of the Hansard which indeed vindicated the Leader Of the House.
Hara then ordered Chihana to bring evidence tomorrow (Friday) failing which she will invoke disciplinary action against him.
Chimwendo Banda noted that there are people including Chihana who are excited about telling lies to put the current government in disrepute.
”Madam Speaker, without being personal with the Member for Mzimba North, let me bring it to your attention that the Member is always found in such conflicts so much that I pray that the punishment should be heavy to deter him from doing the same in future,” Chimwendo Banda pleaded with the Speaker.
It is on record that two years ago, Chihana was also in the spotlight after he made allegations that some Tonse Alliance Cabinet Members were soliciting bribes from Malawian businesspersons of Asian descent.
Chihana failed to bring evidence and eventually withdrew his allegations.
