Council meeting descends into chaos as councillor brands MPs “strangers”

A planning meeting held by Lilongwe City Council (LCC) on its road grading programme came to an abrupt and dramatic halt, after a ward councillor angrily questioned the presence of Members of Parliament and other stakeholders, branding them “strangers” in what he insisted was supposed to be a council-only meeting.

The chaos erupted shortly after LCC chief executive officer Clement Stambuli opened proceedings by outlining plans for the implementation of Constituency Development Fund (CDF)-supported projects worth a staggering K60 billion, following government’s decision to allocate K5 billion to each constituency.

The meeting had brought together councillors, MPs, constituency development committee chairpersons, assistant accountants, procurement officers and work supervisors, in what was intended to be a display of inclusiveness aimed at ensuring proper management of the huge sums involved.

But the gathering was thrown into disarray when Chipasula Ward councillor Kefas Chilera rose on a point of order, arguing furiously that the matter under discussion had come as a complete surprise to councillors, who he claimed were hearing about the programme for the very first time.

Chilera insisted councillors needed the chance to properly deliberate on the issue at council level before external stakeholders were brought into the conversation at all, sharply questioning the procedure of inviting outside parties before councillors had even been fully briefed.

Following the heated objection, the meeting was immediately suspended, with all councillors now locked in a closed-door session with Stambuli in a bid to map out the way forward.