Tembenu says APM did not dodge MPs grilling
The Ministry of Justice and Constitution Affairs on Tuesday clarified on the fact that the President has the right to delegate.
This comes amid media stories that quote the announcement which the Speaker of the National Assembly,. Richard Msowoya made in the National Assembly to the effect that the President had delegated to the respective line Ministries.
According to The Nation Newspaper, by such delegations, the President flouted the Constitution which swore to uphold.
In a statement, the Justice Ministry outlined that Section 89 of the Constitution deals with powers, duties and functions of the President.
States part of the statement; “Sub- section (3) and (4) of that section provide for questions to the President. Section 89 (6) of the same constitution expressly states that “the powers and functions of the President shall be exercised by him or her personally or by a member of the Cabinet or by Government official to whom the President has delegated such power in writing.”
Commenting on the question that was asked in the chamber by one Member the statement said the constitution is clear that there are certain specific powers and functions which can only be exercised by the president alone but this does not restrict him from delegating.
“With respect to the Parliamentary questions, the Business Committee fully appreciated that the President could delegate his functions. Standing Order 70 and 201 of the National Assembly regulate the manner in which questions to the President are handles.
“Except for question under Section 89 (3)(C) of the Constitution, standing order 201 leaves open the possibility for the President to delegate,” reads another part of the statement.
Meanwhile, government has therefore appealed to all those who comment on matters of public interest to do so in a manner that is fair and accurate.
The guy has no concrete answers to the country problems, hes useless.
2019 DPP Boma
APM is useless president. let him resign and rot at Ndata farm pliz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even some of the most feared leaders on earth like hitler,saddam,thatcher,bush,washington,truman,gordon brown,ahmadnejad,zuma,mandela,netanyahu,sharon,merkel,sarkozy atleast attended their legislative bodies to answer questions frm mps/senators/representatives.real leaders who solved their countries problems(though others started needless wars) not ours who goes around begging for solutions
John, This is a missed golden opportunity, Our president could have articulated issues, plans and solutions to our economical woos especially after being given some days to prepare. I wonder what is the problem with our president, being a professor surely he knows how to objectively answer probing, investigative questions e.t.c.. And no MP would dare to confuse or grill him. Sometimes I blame his advisors, they don’t LOVE him even in the least and they don’t WISH him well. They should tell him the truth and only the truth. Probably, our president is not in sync with what is… Read more »
The analyst has spoken and I am in agreement ,the Coward’s do not make good leaders!
What an opportunity missed here by APM to fight back with facts and vision for the nation .Something seriously wrong with the Mutharikas DNA .why Malawi can’t rise like the Brazilian’s are doing now to remove the president? signs are very clear mutharika will fall in disgrace
Chidude, chidzete chopanda mano mkamwa!
It is a shame, disgrace etc.. that the president delegates on this one. It was an opportunity he could not have missed. Though some of us knew that he would no show-up, we just waited to be proved wrong. The govt has three arms: executive,Judiciary and parliament. He is disrespectiful to other arms. This delegation is not right. MPs wanted to know how the president is handling issues. A representative cannot answer exactly because he is not in that office.
Wids, his powers are already being felt all over but he swems not up to the task, agreeing with those who want to do what hes paid for by us his employers
Yet we talk of reducing presidential powers and we want him to be all over