Speaker Sameer Suleman and Information Minister Shadric Namalomba have traded savage blows over allegations of corruption, with neither man prepared to back down.
It all kicked off on Saturday when Suleman, preaching at prayers in Lilongwe, blasted corruption as a cancer that is choking the country’s development.
Namalomba, who is also government spokesman, fired back on Facebook, demanding the Speaker produce evidence.
He gave him seven days to take his claims to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) or stop making them altogether.
Suleman laughed off the ultimatum.
“I do not know in what capacity he is making these calls,” he snapped. “Who is he to tell me to produce evidence? Is he aware of the laws?”
He insisted Parliament must first be allowed to carry out its own probes so it can hand findings to the authorities.
And he fired a broadside at critics who say MPs have no business investigating crime.
Suleman pointed to a string of inquiries already under way, including one into the theft of drugs and another into the Chikangawa plane crash.
“Why are they not stopping us if we do not have powers?” he demanded. “He has to read the Constitution patiently.”
But the law is far from black and white.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Dustain Mwaungulu says Parliament can investigate criminal matters, but it cannot decide guilt or prosecute anyone. If MPs uncover a crime, he says, they must pass it to the proper bodies.
The clash is the latest blow-up in a bitter stand-off between the Speaker and the Executive, and the question now is whether Parliament’s oversight powers will be tested in court.
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