Speaker refuses to protect Mutharika

Speaker of Parliament, Richard Msowoya, has said Malawi president Peter Mutharika will not be protected in the house from accusations against poor leadership.

Msowoya took a bold stance yesterday when  government Chief Whip, Henry Mussa,  asked the Speaker to protect Mutharika against scrutiny over how the president has handled Maize gate and the responsible line minister, George Chaponda.

Msowoya ruled that Standing Order 98 of the house was archaic. The provision dresses the president and his deputy with a thick coat against being called into the house in the course of debate.

The debate (in parliament) hinges on the conduct of the president because of that is the role that overarching role that parliament is empowered to undertake& said Msowoya.

He was of the view that the treatment of leaders as demigods who cannot be questioned over how they conduct themselves was a barrier to democracy.

&As leaders who take pride in being representatives of the people, we must open up to more scrutiny by the people we represent to enable them to monitor and question us in order to meaningfully hold us accountable& he reasoned.

Chakwera had bashed Mutharika for shielding Chaponda from prosecution in the maizegate scandal