By Chisomo Phiri
On Friday 30th April, 2021 Parliament of Malawi concluded its three week long Parliamentary Trainings Programme ( PTP) in which 42 Members of Parliament awarded certificates of attendance.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of the training, speaker of the Malawi Parliament Honourable Catherine Gotani Hara, said she expecting improved quality debates in the house as the training was tailored to enhance MPs capacity to conduct business in the house.
” It is our hope that the knowledge and skills you have gained from this training will further enhance articulation of matters brought before house, committees and other fora and that your contributions will now be from  an informed position”, said Hara.
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has handed over to Parliament of Malawi used election materials from the by-elections that were held on 30th March, 2021 in seven constituencies.
Section 119 of the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act mandates the Clerk of Parliament to safely store used election materials for a period of 12 months after the election.
In his remarks at the handover ceremony, the MEC chairperson, Justice Dr. Chifundo Kachale said the ballot materials includes voter registers, ballot papers, records from council areas and polling stations and summaries of the results.
“The Malawi Electoral Commission believes it is important to work together to make sure that transparency and accountability remain top priority with each election and the handover of these records allows the commission to achieve that,” Justice Kachale said.