Proceedings interrupted as some legislators screamed that there was smoke in the House. Some Members were spotted fleeing following the alert.
Leader of the House, Richard Chimwendo Banda, asked for the suspension to allow technicians check the issue. Legislators including Speaker of Parliament then left the chamber.
In the morning, proceedings were also interrupted due to electricity blackouts which occurred three times. The morning session was adjourned early and proceedings resumed at 2PM.
Speaker of Parliament Gotani Hara said gensets at the building were not automatically supplying electricity after ESCOM power outage.
In the afternoon, Members of Parliament also expressed concern over massive leakages from the roof following rains, saying the leakage is a threat to their safety since celling boards have also been falling off.
Member of Parliament for Lilongwe City Centre Constituency said there is need to work on the condition of the building.
Speaker Hara said Parliament will engage the executive to fix the Building since the issue is beyond Parliament’s capacity.
The Parliament Building was constructed between 2009 and 2010 by the Government of China at a cost of $41 million.
