Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tembo trounced at Opposition post

Opposition Malawi Congress Party leader John Tembo now has lost the Leader of Opposition post. Pic by Malawi Digest.

By Lucy Liponda

Opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President John Tembo had a rude awakening today, Tuesday when he got defeated by a less known parliamentarian for Dowa Abel Ephrain Kayembe for the Leader of Opposition in the Malawi national assembly.

There was singing, dancing and jubilation when the Speaker of the National Assembly Henry Chimunthu Banda announced the result of the vote.

The whole Malawi national assembly took part in the voting to elect Leader of Opposition after amending the standing orders following recommendations from the Legal Affairs committee.

Legal Affairs Committee chairperson Henry Phoya read out to the house recommendations on what the committee agreed.

Speaking before the actual voting took place, Phoya said that the committee agreed to allow the whole House choose the next Leader of Opposition.

The post fell vacant after the May Presidential and Parliamentary elections where John Tembo lost miserably to the incumbent Malawi President Ngwazi Dr Bingu wa Mutharika.

Phoya gave the House three options for the election of the Leader of Opposition; that the whole House votes on the leader, that the largest opposition party identifies a candidate that the whole House should vote for and that he be chosen by the largest opposition party in the House.

Phoya argued this was done after checking with other countries on how they were voting for Leader of the Opposition within Southern Africa and other big nations beyond Africa.

When voting came, Tembo was nowhere near the House but he was paired against Alfred Mwechumu of the UDF and Abel Kayembe of the MCP.

In the vote, Tembo got 8 votes, Mwechumu 23 and Kayembe 117.

Immediately the announcement was made, the house exploded into singing and chanting in praise of Kayembe.

The new Leader of Opposition comes from Dzoole Village in T/A Dzoole in the central region district of Dowa.

He is a University of Malawi graduate with a Bachelors degree in Hydrology and Geology-Malawi Digest.

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