Kalinde remain suspended from Parliament
Thyolo North legislator Anita Kalinde has not been attending parliament because she remains suspended, Nyasa Times understands.
Kalinde was suspended when during the previous sitting the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) benches voted alone for the motion suspending her for 30 days after she attacked Internal Security and National Defence Minister Aaron Sangala.
The legislator was granted an injunction and lodged with the High Court for judicial review proceedings against the decision to suspend her.
But lawyers in the office of the Director of Public Prosecution told Nyasa Times the injunction was lifted at the High Court which means the suspension is rolling.
Kalinde’s lawyer Wapona Kita confirmed when contacted by Nyasa Times.
“Yes, the injunction was lifted on condition that we would able to conclude the case before the next sitting of parliament,” he said.
“This is because the injunction was not having any effect when parliament was not sitting. The court had already set a date for that, the 12th of January, 2012. But due to the judicial strike, the case could not be heard and that put all of us in a quandary, it’s something we never expected, otherwise, we wouldn’t have obliged to the lifting of the injunction. It’s a force majeure situation.”
Kalinde grabbed headlines when she walked from her bench to the government side and manhandled Sangala.
She was irked after the minister had made some provocative remarks saying former legislators estranged husband, the late Marshall ‘The Dukes’ Mdukulira was involved in the business of selling human parts.
The statement came when the minister was trying hard in Parliament to explain circumstances that led to the death of a Polytechnic Engineering Student Robert Chasowa in September 2011.
Despite protest from opposition Members of Parliament in the House, the DPP led Parliament went ahead to suspend Kalinde claiming that she used force on the Minister and Sangala was left free, not even without a caution.
Kalinde’s suspension is with pay and allowances.
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