Exposed: Gotani-Hara gagged Parliament to fund her K1 billion campaign for an Inter-Parliamentary Union seat she lost
Shocking revelations have emerged on Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani-Hara gagged Malawi government, through Parliament, to blew over K1 billion while vying for the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Presidential Seat in October last year.
The revelations have been made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Member of Parliament for Blantyre City South East constituency, Sameer Suleman, in a recent interview with Times Television.
The fireband DPP legislator Suleman, who is currently on suspension due to starting a fight in the chamber, alleged that Gotani Hara, joined by other MPs in a group, traveled to ten countries in Africa for campaign for the seat despite advice from Chakwera to let Tanzania’s Dr. Tulia Ackson vie for the position because of a cordial relationship between the two countries.
Eventually, Hara lost by 172 votes to 33.
“Over K1 billion was blown off for Hara’s campaign with no budget and parliamentary vote, a development which is very sad and I cannot support this even if I was in government,” said Suleman
Suleiman has assured Malawians that he will expose how this huge amount was wasted by the government just to campaign for Hara, who is also eyeing a position in MCP’s National Executive Council during the Annual General Meeting next year.
The parliamentarian has also claimed that out of the 193 members in the house, some are being funded by Parliament to go on international trips more frequently than others, claiming that he has, for four years, not been funded by Parliament for any international trip abroad.
He has challenged the media to verify his claims by investigating Parliament on how much money was spent on Hara’s campaign. He has vowed to continue providing checks and balances to the current ruling party.
Suleman has won the hearts of Malawians and if he had been appointed by his party to be Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera would have been a good leader running the country in the interest of all.
There hasn’t been any immediate reaction from the Gotani-Hara.
IPU is the global organization of national parliaments which promotes democratic governance, institutions and values, working with parliaments and parliamentarians to articulate and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people and also works for peace, democracy, human rights, gender equality, youth empowerment, climate action and sustainable development through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action.
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