Parliament to remain relevant to Malawi citizens, says Speaker Gotani Hara
Speaker of Parliament, Catherine Gotani Hara said orientation of the business committee of Parliament will help the National Assembly to remain relevant to Malawians who are expecting more from the newly elected committee.
The Speaker made remarks on Tuesday at Sunbird Ku Chawe Inn in Zomba during the opening of an orientation training session for parliamentary business committee.
“I am confident that knowledge gained from this workshop will greatly contribute towards transformation of Parliament in Malawi and will also help in ensuring that the National Assembly remains relevant to the aspirations of our people,” said Hara.
She said the orientation session had come at the right time bearing in mind that the business committee had just been put in place with a mandate to execute parliamentary business.
The parliamentary business committee is composed of members from DPP, MCP and UDF and their membership in the house exceeds 10 legislators following the recent elections.
In his speech, Leader of the House, Kondwani Nankhumwa said the orientation was timely and relevant as politics is dynamic, hence the need to build capacity of the committee for effective implementation of business in the house.
“Politics is dynamic as it keeps changing from time to time,” Nankhumwa said adding that the development called for capacity building to equip the committee with skills and knowledge on how to transact parliamentary business.
Some of the roles of the business committee include proposing programme of business to be brought before the house during any meeting of parliament and examining business items before they are placed on order paper.
During the orientation, the business committee discussed areas such as Parliamentary Service Act, Parliamentary Service Commission Appointment, composition, mandate, roles and structure.
Other topics in the training included Parliamentary Service and Public Act, effective corporate governance for Parliamentary Act and committee business and integrity of members and public image.
