Aford MP tables federalism motion, says Mutharika subscribes to the narrative

Mzimba North legislator Yeremiah Chihana (Alliance for Democracy-Aford)  on Thursday  tabled  a motion proposing the introduction of a federal system of government in the country  to bring sanity by ending issues of nepotism, tribalism and worsening corruption.

Chihana said  national resources are not distributed equally , saying he was pleased his private member’s bill is referred to the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament to be  scrutinised and that he has support even from ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

“Some DPP members have been sending me messages to encourage me and support the motion,” claimed Chihana.

However, tempers flared in the House over the motion, with  Mulanje Bale MP Victor Musowa  who observed that  Rumphi East legislator Kamlepo Kalua  moved the  similar motion last year, but it was only supported by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) which has been out of the government since May 1994.

He said the motion comes every five years and described it as a sign of electoral defeats.

But Chihana ironically kept on referring Musowa in his motion which drew the wrath from the DPP vocal legislator.

“If there are people he can mess about in this House , then not me,” charged Musowa.

Cabinet minister and member of Parliament (MP) for Nkhata Bay Central wondered why most people supporting are from the  Northern Region.

In his concluding remarks, Chihana said President Mutharika subscribes to federalism narrative.

In 2006, President Peter Mutharika, then a professor of international law at Washington University School of Law in the United States of America, proposed federalism as a solution to address the issue of national unity.

He expressed his sentiments in his remarks at the National Constitutional Review Conference in Lilongwe held from March 28 to 31 2006 in a paper titled Towards a More Manageable Constitution.

Mutharika, in his paper, observed that Nigeria successfully resolved the problems that were created by the existence of its three regions at the time of independence in 1960 into what are now 36 States and establishing one federal territory.

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