Malawi MPs back on 9 November to check where the money went
Parliament will reconvene on 9 November for a five-week review of government spending, Speaker Sameer Suleman has announced.
Tag archives: Malawi Parliament
‘Stranger’ in court: Speaker’s lawyer slams Attorney General Mbeta’s late move
Speaker’s court fight takes new Attorney General Frank Mbeta has joined the High Court battle over Parliament’s 12 committees as an interested party, a case in which he was originally expected to stand by the Speaker. Speaker Sameer Suleman is challenging an injunction obtained by citizen Austin Mkoka, which blocks the formation of the committees […]
Who will defend the Speaker? Private lawyer hired as questions swirl over Attorney General’s role
The legal battle over the Speaker’s 12 parliamentary committees is on the front pages of both major dailies as the case reaches the High Court today. The Daily Times leads with “Speaker fights on”, reporting that Speaker Sameer Suleman has hired private lawyer Bright Theu of Nicholls and Brookes to defend the committees. Its second […]
MPs push to bring Chichewa into the House as Parliament grills top officials over language shake-up
Malawi’s Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs has descended on the Office of the Clerk of Parliament, grilling top officials over a bold proposal that could see Chichewa and other local languages finally take centre stage on the floor of the National Assembly. The high-level engagement, held at the Parliament Building in Lilongwe, saw MPs press […]
‘Give us freedom from fear’: Malawi MPs demand financial independence
Malawi’s MPs have launched a fierce push for financial freedom from the Executive, demanding both complete autonomy over Parliament’s purse strings and a dramatic hike in its share of the national budget to properly carry out its duties. The demand came from Vice Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee Gift Nankhuni, speaking Tuesday at Parliament […]
MP Nyamilandu demands Malawi scrap ‘wasteful’ retirement age for pilots after crash inquiry hears expert quit flying at 65
A Malawian MP has demanded an urgent shake-up of retirement rules for the country’s most critical professionals, warning Malawi is haemorrhaging vital expertise abroad — after the parliamentary inquiry into the crash that killed former vice-president Saulos Chilima heard a top aviation expert was forced to stop flying simply because he turned 65. Walter Nyamilandu, […]
Speaker and President in crunch talks: Parliament’s probes suspended
Parliamentary investigations have been dramatically halted after a member of the public won a court injunction blocking them from going ahead. The Office of the Speaker, Sameer Suleman, has confirmed that committees set up to probe a string of matters have been ordered to down tools with immediate effect. The bombshell move comes after Austin […]
Malawi Law Society breaks silence: To join court battle over Speaker’s blocked ‘super committees’
The Malawi Law Society has finally weighed in on the constitutional storm engulfing Parliament, announcing it will join the judicial review case over a court injunction that has blocked Speaker Sameer Suleiman from forming twelve joint ad-hoc committees tasked with probing government operations. MLS President Davis Njobvu revealed the society’s decision to step into the […]
Retired judge’s chilling warning: Malawi facing ‘WAR’ between Parliament and the Presidency over constitutional row
A retired judge has issued a stark warning that Malawi could be heading for an explosive constitutional showdown between Parliament and the Presidency, as the Malawi Law Society remains conspicuously silent on the growing crisis. Justice Dunstain Mwaungulu, a respected legal and political commentator, says the escalating dispute over the National Assembly’s power to set […]
PAC report names Zamba, others over K128.7bn Amaryllis hotel purchase
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recommended further investigation, legislative reform, recovery of losses and individual accountability over the K128.7 billion Public Service Pension Trust Fund purchase of Amaryllis Hotel. The committee’s report was adopted on March 31, under committee chairperson Steven Malondera. PAC said the transaction represented serious lapses in fiduciary discipline, governance and […]
Malawi parliament report on Amaryllis hotel deal ‘ready’ for tabling
A hotly-anticipated parliamentary report into the controversial purchase of Amaryllis Hotel is finally ready to be tabled — bringing to a head months of wrangling over a star witness who never testified. Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has wrapped up its probe into the Public Service Pension Trust Fund’s purchase of the hotel, Speaker of […]
An ordinary citizen, an extraordinary court case: Austin Mkoka story
There is something almost quaint about the idea that a single, unemployed man from Thyolo, acting entirely alone and on principle, might halt the machinery of a national parliament. And yet that, in essence, is the story of Austin Mkoka, who this month obtained a court injunction preventing Malawi’s Parliament from launching inquiries into several […]
Court halts Malawi speaker’s inquiry into troubled state bodies
The High Court has temporarily stopped Parliament from launching public inquiries into several troubled state institutions. The interim order, issued on 4 September 2026, bars Speaker Sameer Suleman and Parliament from establishing or operationalising joint ad hoc committees to probe the Immigration and Citizenship Services Department, ESCOM, EGENCO, Power Market Limited, Blantyre Water Board and […]
Rights body warns over Parliament-Executive tensions amid inquiry row
The Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) has warned of growing tensions between Parliament and the Executive, urging both arms of government to prioritise dialogue and constitutional order amid concerns over a proposed parliamentary inquiry into 13 issues of national importance. Speaking at a press conference in Lilongwe on Tuesday, HRCC said that while the issues […]
Advocacy platform backs plans for 13 separate parliamentary investigations
A leading advocacy group has backed a proposal by the Speaker of Parliament to set up independent committees to investigate 13 separate issues of national concern. The National Advocacy Platform (NAP) said the issues raised by Speaker Sameer Suleman were not new and were supported by Malawi’s legal framework. NAP chairperson Benedicto Kondowe, a lawyer, […]
Mukhito vindicated: High Court’s intervention lends weight to constitutional overreach warning
When Democratic Progressive Party Secretary General Peter Mukhito warned that proposed parliamentary inquiries risked crossing the constitutional line between oversight and investigation, his position was quickly attacked in some quarters as political interference. Now, the High Court has temporarily hal ted the proposed inquiries pending judicial review. That development does not mean the court has […]
Namalomba: Citizen’s legal challenge against Speaker ‘should not be attributed’ to government
Government has moved swiftly to distance itself from legal proceedings involving Speaker of the National Assembly Sameer Suleman and Malawian citizen Austin Mkoka, insisting it neither initiated nor supported the court action in any way. In a press statement dated 5 August 2026, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Shadrick Namalomba said the man behind […]
A Speaker’s revolt, and the DPP’s none-too-subtle reminder of who’s boss
There is a particular breed of political theatre that Malawi does rather well: the public servant who, having been elevated to high office by the very people he now chooses to needle, appears genuinely startled when those people needle back. Enter Sameer Suleman, Speaker of the National Assembly, who this week found himself the toast […]