By Dean Chisambo
Member of Parliament for Karonga South, Duncan Karonga, has criticized the government for the slow pace of repatriating Malawians facing xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
The lawmaker expressed his frustration on Tuesday in Parliament following a ministerial statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Chaponda.
“To me, the government’s reaction is a bit slow. What is happening is like hearing your mother being beaten.
It doesn’t matter whether she was stealing or misbehaving. You first rescue the person before you start discussing how to prevent it from happening again,” Karonga said.
According to Karonga, Parliament should not waste time debating the matter while Malawians remain in danger.Â
He argued that the priority should be to bring all affected citizens home, after which Parliament can deliberate on long-term solutions.
“I am very concerned with the way the government is handling this. It is too slow,” he said.
Karonga further appealed to the government to complete the evacuation of the remaining Malawians within 24 hours.Â
He said it should not matter if the government has to borrow money, as long as the citizens are brought back safely so that Parliament can address the underlying issues.
The Third Meeting of the 53rd Session of Parliament opened on a high note with ministerial statements from Minister of Foreign Affairs George Chaponda and Minister of Local Government Ben Phiri.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Madalitso Kambauwa-Baloyi and Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara had a busy session responding to questions from members of Parliament.
