Chaponda, Harry Mkandawire nearly fight in parliament

Its one of the rare fights everyone would want to sit back and watch as leader of Malawi’s Parliament George Chaponda lost his cool on Mzimba West lawmaker Harry Mkandawire to the extent of asking him to meet him outside for a ‘fight’.

Mkandawire claimed the government has sold Lake Malawi to Mota Engil, a Portuguese construction company with close links to the President Peter Mutharika family-something which did not go well with Chaponda.

Mkandawire said he had evidence to show that the government of Malawi had given a 40 year concession to run the affairs of Lake Malawi.

Mkandawire presented to the House recently showed that former president Bingu wa Mutharika had a cut of 10 per cent as commission on the company’s lucrative government contracts, a claim denied by the government of Peter Mutharika, brother to the late president.

However, the determined but soft spoken Mkandawire, said he had all the documentation and evidence to prove his point.

But this did not please Chaponda who said ‘’Then we cease to be called Honorables if we talk of such issues and bring claims as these’’. These sentiments did not go well with Mkandawire and he asked the Agriculture Minister to apologize to him.

However Chaponda maintained he saw no need to apologize. Mkandawire then with a loud voice said Chaponda was involved in the Lake Malawi ‘sell out’ and other corruption scandals in the current and previous regimes.

It was on this that Chaponda openly asked Mkandawire to meet him outside-a thing apparently that implies he had wanted them to go to the blows.

This is in the continued crazy incidents in the house.

On Tuesday opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) left the house after a heightened verbal wrangle with government legislators.