Malawi Parliament goes paperless, electronic Hansard

Speaker of parliament Gotani Hara says the National Assembly has now stopped publishing hard copies of chamber documents which include Hansards.

Hansards details the daily planned business of the House.

She said parliament will now be producing the Hansard in electronic form following an agreement reached at a recent business commitee meeting, a meeting of party leadership in the 193-strong House.

“This will improve efficiency and cost effectiveness in the circulation of chamber documents, especially the Hansard,” she said on Monday in the House just before Finance minister Joseph Mwanamvekha presented the K1.7 trillion national budget.

She said hard copies of the Hansard will only be produced on request by members of parliament.

Parliament is expected to buy a laptop for each of the member of parliament.