Maravi

Dora should resign from Parliament - Magande

Dora should resign from Parliament - Magande
Written by George Chellah
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 6:21:12 PM

FORMER finance minister Ng'andu Magande on demanded that Dora Siliya resign from Parliament. In an interview, Magande said former communications and transport minister Siliya could not continue to hold her position in Parliament.

"The first thing I think the supervisor, the President should not have accepted the resignation because he already told us that he has a report from the tribunal, which made recommendations. So how will he take the recommendations then?" Magande asked.

"And then from there as a member of parliament and Cabinet minister you swear to uphold the Constitution. So if then she committed an offence against the constitution she can't hold a position in a place where a Constitution is a paramount law. So she has to resign from Parliament."

Magande, who is also Chilanga MMD member of parliament, said Siliya's resignation did not seem to be normal.

"Am not very clear of what the situation is because madam Siliya was alleged to have committed some omission and then we started the tribunal. The tribunal has finalized its report to the supervising officer who is the President and before he takes action on findings of the tribunal, she resigns," Magande explained.

"That doesn't seem to be normal and at her level the only person who could have refused her resignation is the supervisor, the President. And he allows her to go while he is actually reading this tribunal report, which is a disciplinary report. How is he going to take any action on her? Now she is a private citizen.

"That really didn't seem to be very clear to some of us. We thought he should have told her to say 'you can't resign now there is a report, which am studying' and then take action on the basis of that report."

He emphasized that as a Cabinet minister, Siliya should not have been allowed to resign when President Banda has a disciplinary report on his desk.

"I mean that is never done otherwise any senior person while there is an investigation and the disciplinary committee is sitting. They will just go to the supervisor and say 'am leaving' then how do you take action? What will the President do with the report, which is on his desk? Will he just call his secretary and say file it away? That is the complication, which is there," Magande said.

"In a normal situation when a supervisor is investigating a disciplinary case. The junior officer can only resign on recommendation of the supervisor to say 'look I have found you with a case but this case I don't want to take it to the police. Perhaps what you do is to resign and then you lose all your terminal benefits'. It's the supervisor who makes a proposal for a dignified exit by an officer."

Asked if he was suggesting that President Banda should come out clean on whether he requested Siliya to resign, Magande responded: "Exactly, to save her the embarrassment of being fired because in a case like this or in any disciplinary case a resignation is not part of the penalty. A resignation is not part of a penalty that you impose on an officer," Magande said.

"Unless you are the boss and you make a decision that you don't want to apply any of the other penalties then you ask the officer to resign. If the other two young men [Jonas Shakafuswa and Lameck Chibombamilimo] were not given an opportunity then what's so special about madam Siliya?"

He wondered why former science deputy minister Shakafuswa and his energy counterpart Chibombamilimo were not given an option of resigning.

"I think now madam Siliya is... I think the third minister to leave the government. Honourable Shakafuswa and Honourable Chibombamilimo I don't think they had that option of resigning. And even my case, you remember I was also alleged to have committed something that's why I was left out of government. I had no option to resign," said Magande.

"Today, Honourable Siliya is still a member of parliament, which I also doubt she should because the Constitution also is what we swear in Parliament. She could easily go to somebody [an employer] and look for a job and all that she will say is, 'I left the government perhaps because the conditions were not good and am looking for a job'."

Siliya on Tuesday resigned from her ministerial position after the judge Dennis Chirwa chaired tribunal found that she breached the Republican Constitution in her engagement of RP Capital Partners Cayman Islands Limited to valuate Zamtel's assets before partial privatisation.

Labels: DORA SILIYA, MAGANDE, PRIVATISATION

posted by MrK @ 5:22 PM