Leader of the House Kondwani Nankhumwa expects absenteeism among Members of Parliament to be rampant during the current sitting as the May 21 Elections draw closer.
Nankhumwa said on Tuesday that people should expect more of this and other shortfalls in the current sitting since most of the members are still busy with other business as the campaign period nears.
Nankhumwa who is also the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development however reminded the legislators that absentees will not receive allowances.
“Unfortunately we can not say that we are going to resolve this matter during this meeting but we hope that for the next parliament from 2020 to 2024, this matter will be looked into technically,” he explained
Nankhumwa said that although it is the case, the members do not have much business to cover during the current sitting.
“We are meeting this time around for the budget review, the budget will be presented by the Minister of Finance in this house this coming Friday,” he explained.
He then asked the members to be accountable since they will be handling business issues which are very significant.
Parliament will meet for 10 days before being dissolved on 20 March 2019.
Speaker Richard Msowoya announced in the house that President Peter Mutharika has assented to all eleven bills the house passed in the November meeting.
