* As accountable governance advocate, Dr. James Kadyampakeni asks government to issue a directive to the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) to trace the source of Austin Mkoka’s legal funding
* If the government didn’t fund Mkoka, then who did? That is the million-kwacha question this press release conveniently omits
By Duncan Mlanjira
Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman has received a colossal vote of confidence from the public, describing him as head of the legislature the country has been awaiting for years.
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This was reactions of the post Suleman published on his Facebook account with just a simple statement; “Good Afternoon aMalawi! From your proud MBULI Speaker!”
The post received an avalanche of responses, with over 9,900 likes, 13,000 comments and 74 shares — all in support of Suleman’s stance to institute 12 joint Parliamentary Committees to investigate a range of public concerns as part of the National Assembly’s constitutional oversight mandate.
He received a backlash from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the party under whose ticket he was voted into the National Assembly, that indicated that it was the DPP that voted in majority to put him on the Speaker’s chair.
DPP secretary general Peter Mukhito added that Suleman was creating “the impression of institutional conflict within a government that the Party itself leads” while Minister of Information labeled him as ‘mbuli’ — a derogatory Chichewa word for ignorance.
The public, however, are in majority in support of Parliament’s decision as a whole, with some encouraging Suleman that he is far from being ‘mbuli’, saying even Namalomba himself does stand up along with all legislators when the Speaker enters the august House for his duties.
Some described Suleman as the greatest of all time (G.O.A.T.) while indicating that there are three arms of government — the Executive, led by the Head of State, the Legislature (Speaker), and the Judiciary (Chief justice).
Others maintained that a degree or a PhD “is just a paper [but] wisdom is capital”.
At the same time, a citizen, Austin Mkoka, claiming that he “is being deprived of his right to enjoy his right to effective governance of public institutions (Malawi Parliament) contrary to section 12(1)(a) and (b) of the Republic of Malawi (Constitution) Act”, has filed for he-timing-and-pressure-to-has filed for an urgent judicial review at the High Court to stop the investigations that havent even started yet.
In an earlier comment by Canada-based accountable governance advocate, James Kadyampakeni, he indicated that Parliament’s oversight isn’t solely crammed into one sub-section but that the Constitution and Standing Orders grant the august House the inherent authority to hold the Executive accountable.
In response to Suleman’s post, Bertha Msusa also alluded to this, quoting Section 53(5) that “protects the Speaker, in exercising the functions and powers of that office, from the direction or interference of any person or authority”.
“Section 53(6) then goes even further: where the Speaker was elected as a member of a political party, in exercising the functions and powers of Speaker, he shall not be subject to that political party’s ‘control, discipline, authority or direction’.
After his outburst at the Speaker, Namalomba issued a statement on behalf of the government distancing itself from the legal proceedings filed by Mkoka through his lawyer Noel Supedi.
Kadyampakeni observes that the press release “is a slick political sidestep wrapped in official letterhead”.
“First off, credit where it’s due: Hon. Namalomba has done a brilliant job of protecting the Executive branch here,” said Kadyampakeni when reached out to.
“He’s essentially said; ‘Malawians don’t look at us, we didn’t pay for this circus’. Fair enough. We’ll take that denial at face value, for now.
“But here’s where you have left us hanging. This statement is deliberately incomplete. If the government didn’t fund Mkoka, then who did?
“That is the million-kwacha question this press release conveniently omits,” said Kadyampakeni, adding that the government “can’t just wipe its hands clean and walk away”.
Shadric Namalomba
He maintains that after distancing itself from the legal proceedings, the government “should do the second part of its job by using its intelligence apparatus or its political network to tell Malawians exactly which fat cat is footing the bill for Supedi’s legal fees”.
“Because we all know Noel Dunstan Supedi doesn’t file urgent injunctions for a bag of maize and a handshake. That lawyer’s fees run into the millions, and Mkoka, a private citizen with no direct stakes in NOCMA or ESCOM, does not have that kind of loose change under his mattress.”
Kadyampakeni breaks down the reality that Namalomba’s statement is trying to hide, that:
1. The parastatal cartel is sweating. The very entities Mkoka is trying to shield ESCOM, EGENCO, NOCMA, PML, are the ones with the deepest pockets.
They are the ones sitting on billions of kwacha in fuel, electricity, and water contracts, mostly floated in US$. They are the ones who benefit most when Parliament is gagged with an interim order.
2. This is a classic proxy war, Mkoka is just the jersey. The real players are the board chairpersons and CEOs who know that if an ad-hoc committee starts digging into their procurement files, a lot of ‘untraceable’ dollars will suddenly surface.
Dr. James Kadyampakeni
“So, Hon. Minister, since you’ve already gone on record denying Executive involvement, grow some teeth and go further — issue a directive to the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) to trace the source of Mkoka’s legal funding.
“Release a statement demanding that the High Court compel Mkoka to disclose his financiers as part of the judicial review.
“If you truly respect the rule of law and the independence of Parliament as your statement claims, you should be just as eager as we are to expose who is trying to bribe or bully the courts into blocking accountability.”
Bottom line, contends Kadyampakeni, is that Namalomba’s statement “is just damage control — it tells us who didn’t do it, but keeps us completely in the dark about who actually did”.
“And until they name the puppet master, we are right to assume the usual corrupt cartels are paying Mkoka to play the victim while they shred documents and hide offshore accounts.
“Minister, we are waiting for Part 2 of this statement. Don’t leave us hanging with half-truths — timvetsetse zedi, ndani anamulipira?”
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James Kadyampakeni has hot the nail on the head. the government under this minister should come out and tell Malawians who is bank rolling Mkoka. we know very well that there are some ministers who are benefiting from the Cartel. trying to muzzle the speaker. DPP should be reminded that Professor Mutharika came back intoniffice and promised he would not mask anyone. No sacred cows, he promised us. now is the time for the president to walk the talk.