A Delegation of Parliamentarians from the Parliament of Malawi paid a courtesy call on Hon. Amusaa K Mwanamwambwa, MP, Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia on Wednesday, 21st October, 2009 at 09 30 hours at Parliament Buildings. The Delegation was led by Hon. Beatrice Mwangonde, MP.

Other members of the Delegation included Hon. Nicholas Dausi, MP, Hon. Steyn Mkomba, MP, Hon. Kaphantengo Yona, MP, Hon. Khwauli Msiska, MP and Hon. Herbert Bimphi, MP. The Members were accompanied by Mr. Besta Mandele, District Commissioner and Mr. Hastings F E Bota, Deputy Director of Local Government Services- Decentralisation.

The Hon. Mr. Speaker welcomed the Delegation to the Zambian Parliament. He congratulated the Members that had been re-elected and new Members of Parliament after the Presidential and Parliamentary elections that took place on 19th May, 2009 in Malawi. The Hon. Mr. Speaker observed that the multi-party representative democracy had now stabilized in the Malawi Parliament. He had been informed that it had earlier been difficult for the opposition and ruling party members in the Malawian Parliament to communicate well with each other.

The Hon Mr. Speaker said that Zambia and Malawi had identical constitutions and faced similar challenges and hoped that the Delegation would meet other committees apart from the Committee on Local Government, Housing and Chiefs’ Affairs to share information.

The Hon Mr. Speaker informed the Delegation about the reforms that the Parliament of Zambia was undergoing which included establishment of Parliament Radio to cover all Provinces by the end of 2009.  Other reforms were construction of new committee offices and constituency offices. Currently, the constituency offices were in rented buildings, but had been supplied with internet facilities and cellular phones to facilitate communication with their Members of Parliament and the National Assembly.

Members of the Delegation confirmed that there was more stability in Malawi and appreciated progress made in the constitutional review that was taking place at the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in Zambia. It was hoped that the deliberations by the NCC on the new constitutional amendments would be completed by early 2010 before submission to Parliament for enactment. The meeting also exchanged notes on the operations of the committee system in the Zambian Parliament.

The Delegation held another meeting with the Committee on Local Governance Housing and Chiefs’ Affairs on issues concerning the Decentralisation Policy and later was privileged to observe the sitting of the House following an invitation from the Hon Mr. Speaker.