Bid to impeach Malawi head
2005-03-22 13:17
Blantyre - A group of lawmakers in Malawi plan to launch a bid to impeach President Bingu wa Mutharika later this month, alleging that he violated the constitution, a party spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Discussions to impeach the president were held last weekend at the residence of former president and United Democratic Front (UDF) leader Bakili Muluzi, who is engaged in an open feud with Mutharika.
More than 40 lawmakers in the 193-seat parliament attended the meeting, according to UDF spokesperson Sam Mpasu.
"We have so far identified 10 violation areas" of the constitution, Mpasu said.
Mpasu said Mutharika had violated the constitution when he set up a $100m for poor Malawians without parliamentary approval.
The fund, whose contributors have never been disclosed, was one of the pillars of Mutharika's campaign during the 2004 presidential election in which he controversially won on the ticket of the UDF.
In a bitter dispute with Muluzi, Mutharika quit the UDF citing political interference by the former president, who still wields a lot of power in the party.
Other violations that Mutharika is accused of include the appointment of a police chief without parliamentary approval.
Muluzi's party is also in talks with the main opposition party, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), to support the call for impeachment.
Mutharika, who is planning to launch a new political party, was quoted as telling local radio: "I don't think it is fair for the opposition to be planning to impeach me just because I want to give people loans.
"You can go to hell if you think I will stop to give my people loans," he said.
But the president won backing from Attorney General Raphael Kasambara who said "there is no evidence of serious allegations that the president violated the constitution."