By Winfrida Kamwana

Mchinji, May 1, Mana: Parliament of Malawi has launched "Phungu Wanga" Project which is solely designed to address burning issues that bring about misunderstandings between Members of Parliament (MPs) and the citizens.

The project, launched at Kawere Ground in Mchinji, is about strengthening Parliament of Malawi to perform better in its oversight, legislative and representative function.

Speaking at the event, Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara said that bringing parliament closer to the people will effectively and positively improve the relation between MPs and citizens.

"Citizens will have the opportunity to engage with their elected representatives at a more personal level, fostering a deeper sense of community empowerment," said Gotani Hara.

She further explained that if people have an understanding of what parliament is all about and the roles of the MPs, they will be able to make sound and informed decisions when voting instead of voting and choosing leaders based on assumptions.

"Some members of parliament have been voted out of office because people thought they were not performing well, just because they could not ascertain to other works that the community thought were the roles of an MP, which in a way affects the development of the community," explained Hara.

In her remarks, Member of Parliament for Mchinji North Constituency, Rachel Mazombwe Zulu, thanked parliament for choosing her constituency as one of the beneficiaries of the project, saying this will not just bring the people closer to the leaders, but will also address the gap that is there in terms of the roles of the people in development.

"This project is a milestone in achieving some developmental goals that are set back due to people’s negligence who think that it is only the MP that can do a particular job,” said Zulu.

She went on to say this will also empower people to be advocating and be demanding change where they feel it is needed.

Head of Development Corporation from European Union, Ivo Hoefkens, said funding the project came in because EU saw the right direction democracy is taking in the country.

"The coming in of the project will uphold transparency and accountability among leaders in parliament, thereby increasingly pushing democracy into the right direction," said Hoefkens.

"Phungu Wanga" is a two and half year’s project with K1.2 billion funding.

The project is funded by European Union and implemented by Save the Children and Centre for Civil Society Strengthening in Mchinji, Rumphi, Balaka and the Malawi Parliament.