Exodus! Malawi opposition MPs walk out of Parliament over Land Bill

Opposition member of parlaiment on Tuesday walked  out of the House after disagreements with goverment  MPs on the Land Bill. Only government MPs left in the chamber and the bill has been passed.

The opposition MPs were against some of the amendments in the Land bill and the progress of debate on the matter with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) dictating the debate.

Opposition MPs argued that the amended close was not favouring the poor Malawians and they accused Minister of Land and Housing Atupele Muluzi of betraying the House.

The situation went out of hand when Second Deputy Speaker Clement Chiwaya called for division on the matter without hearing what the opposition MPs were saying on the matter.

This did not please the opposition MPs who decided to walk out of the chamber.

Parliament is expected to rise on Friday after a week long extension.

Leader of the House George Chaponda said there are many bills which need to be tackled before parliament rises which include the Access to Information bill.

The one week extension of parliament has cost the government unbudgetted K67.5 million in allowances for the 193 legislators who get a whopping K50000 per day each in addition to the K1.5 million basic salary.