The Vertical and Horizontal Accountability
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
School of Politics, Philosophy and International Studies Centre for Legislative Studies The University of Hull United Kingdom THE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE MALAWI PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY A Thesis submitted to The University of Hull in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PhD.) POLITICS By WEBSTER SIAME KAMEME [MPhil, MSc, PGD, ATD] THE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE MALAWI PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Politics THESIS By WEBSTER SIAME KAMEME [MPhil, MSc, PGD, ATD] June 2015 ii Dedicated To my Mum LIZIE Born 1915, Died 15/12/2014: [A day before my viva voce] R.I.P. Tributes I would like to pay tribute to two special people who started this project with me but never saw it complete because they have since passed-on to Glory. My Father Rev. Adam Kameme (1913-2007) and my Father-in-law Pinson Mwengama Mtambo (1934-2013) “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55; KJV) iii Acknowledgements For those that believe in divine interventions, please join me in giving “God” the Honour and Glory for preserving and providing for us to see this project to fruition. The list of people that deserve my sincere and profound gratitude is inex- haustible. Almost everyone went out of their way to support this research project. However, there are a few names that I am compelled to acknowledge. If I was able to see far, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of these ‘giants’. Special ‘thank-you’ to my personal supervisor, the Legendary Professor Lord Norton of Louth and my second supervisor, Dr Cristina Leston-Bandeira for christening me into the philosophies of politics. I shall forever remain indebted to the University of Hull in general, The School of Philosophy, Politics and International Studies and that of the Centre for Legislative Studies in particular for the Scholarship; without which this project would have been, but a fantasy. Allow me to acknowledge the Speaker of Malawi Parliament the Rt. Hon. Hennery Chimunthu Banda – MP, Management and staff of Malawi Parlia- ment for opening the Parliamentary ‘Golden Gates’ for office accommodation as well as allowing me to study the institution. The support that this project received from all political parties, the Civil Society, Non-governmental Organ- isations, the Academia and Faith Groups was no doubt overwhelming. How- ever, the personal contributions from a few individuals deserves a mention, Her Excellence Dr. Joyce Banda, (president of the Republic of Malawi), The Rt. Hon. J.Z.U. Tembo-MP (leader of Opposition in Parliament), Dr. Cassim Chilumpha-MP (Former State Vice President), Bishop Matoga and Rev. Vincent Chirwa, to mention a few. iv My family network was enormous, beginning from our household with my wife Christine, our children Webster Jr. and Suwilanji as well as stretching back to Malawi with Norah Siame Nsanja and Family. We were all together in it! It will be hypocritical of me not to mention my bigger church family net- work. Pastors Themba Ndlovu and Dean Chauke and their families together with the Brethren in Christ Church (UK) and friends, May God richly bless you. Special thanks to all my constituents in Chitipa North who overwhelmingly voted for me to Parliament in the 1999 General Elections. They allowed me to have ‘hand-on’ experience as Member of Parliament. My Executive Com- mittee, Senior Chiefs Kameme and the late Mwabulabia and all those that actively took part in various development endeavours for Chitipa North, I was proud to serve you with humility and honour. To one and to all, we can say, “We did it.” v Abstract …the future is that; I think we have hit rock bottom and that the only way we can go now is not down but up. I have hope. I have told Malawians that we need to look into the future with hope and I know that we shall be fine. What I am implying here is that ultimately what is going to save democracy in Malawi is the willingness by Malawians to protect themselves and preserve the freedoms and rights which they have…, (President, Joyce Banda, 2011)1. The thesis of this study is that the Malawi Parliament ought to be the hub of vertical and horizontal accountability in legislation, representation and oversight roles. Salih, (2005, p.3) states that parliaments are caught between fulfilling the governance role and acting as part of government. Therefore, in order to effectively fulfil this objective, parliament must be supported, (Ma Ngok, in Siu-Kai, 2002). However, the study notes that the Malawi Parliament has a high executive influence; no policy making power with minimal legislative viscosity, (Norton, 2005, 1990; Polsby, 1975; Mezey, 1979 and Blondel, 1973). Consequently, it is argued with empirical data that since the 1994 multiparty election, parliament has not been effective in its vertical and horizontal accountability roles, (Lindberg, 2009). In the horizontal accountability, parliament plays an inter-governmental role of the executive oversight as well as that of checks and balance, (Stapenhurst and O’Brien, 2011, p. 3). In the vertical, parliament is held accountable through its elected members by its voters, stakeholders and the civil society, (Chirwa and Nijzink, 2012, p.6). It is argued that when voters (principals) delegate their decision-making power to parliament (agent), the principal must have mechanisms in place of holding the agent(s) accountable for their actions or lack of it and if necessary, impose sanctions or remove the agent from power, (Strom, 1999, pp. 7, 8). In every developed democracy, government 1 President Joyce Banda: Sworn in as President of the Republic of Malawi on the 7th April, 2012. vi policies and services are demand driven; sanctioned, monitored and evaluated by the legislature (Lupia and McCubbins, 1999, p. 4). Using empirical data, the study observed that although the Malawi Parliament has made significant reforms towards regaining its independence and autonomy from the executive, it still continues to be seen as a legitimatisation and sometimes rubberstamping institution, (Nyamongo, 2010; Chinsinga, 2007; Patel, 2007). The contributory factors were both intrinsic and extrinsic such as lack of institutional capacity as well as political will by the executive to support a greater parliamentary autonomy. Thus, the study recommends that the Malawi Parliament institutes a human resource development programme in order to improve the technical capacity of legislative support staff as well as MPs; increase funding and strengthen parliamentary committee system for higher scrutiny as well as a wider stakeholder consultation at every stage of the legislative process; The study also recommends that appointments of directors in auxiliary governance agencies such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Electoral Commission of Malawi, and the Human Rights Commission shift from the presidency to parliament. It is the assumption of this study that increasing parliamentary oversight potential promotes democracy and good governance, (Pelizzo and Stapenhurst, 2007, p.13). vii Contents Dedicated ............................................................................................................................. iii Tributes ................................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... iv Abstract ................................................................................................................................ vi Contents ............................................................................................................................. viii Tables .................................................................................................................................. xii Table of figures ................................................................................................................... xiii Glossary of Words and Terms ............................................................................................ xiv Who is who in the thesis? ................................................................................................... xix CHAPTER: ONE ................................................................................................................... 1 Malawi Parliament: The Nation and its Constituents ............................................................. 1 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Study Objectives ................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Hypotheses ................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Research Questions ................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Major contribution of the study ................................................................................... 4 1.5 Structure of Thesis ..................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Malawi: The Land and the People .............................................................................. 6 1.7 Historical Context ......................................................................................................