MP’s question over DPP seating sparks laughter in Malawi’s Parliament

Lilongwe Nyanja MP Steven Baba Malondera sparked laughter in the National Assembly on Monday after questioning changes to the seating arrangement of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the chamber.

Rising on a point of order after the House had adopted a motion, Malondera first sought clarification on how long the newly constituted ad hoc committee on rare earth mining would take to complete its work, before turning his attention to the opposition benches.

“Is it in order that one of the senior members, who used to sit on position two, is now sitting on position nine? He is one of the senior serving MPs and holds one of the senior ministerial positions,” Malondera said, prompting amusement across the chamber.

Leader of the House Jappie Mhango responded by urging MPs to stop spending time on what he described as petty issues and instead focus on government business.

“I have told this House, and I have stated quite a number of times, we should not come into this House intoxicated,” Mhango said, though he did not suggest Malondera’s question was made under the influence, using the remark instead to stress that Parliament’s limited time should not be spent on matters he felt did not serve the public interest.