By John Ikani
Clement Chiwaya, a former Deputy Speaker in Malawi has shot himself inside Parliament in the capital, Lilongwe.
According to authorities, the wheel-chair bound Chiwaya had gone to the building on Thursday to discuss vehicle benefits entitled to him when he left office two years ago.
Parliament “regrets to inform the public that the former deputy speaker … committed suicide at the parliament building,” the Parliament said in a statement.
“The incident is in relation to frustration with the implementation of his conditions of service.”
Police Spokesperson, James Kadadzera confirmed the incident but refused to give details until he had received a full report from investigators.
Chiwaya bought his official vehicle at the end of his five-year term in 2019, as provided for in his contract.
But he had tried to get Parliament to pay for damages incurred in an accident that happened six months later.
He took the case to court. The legal process is still pending.
The statement from Parliament appeared to suggest that Chiwaya, who moved in a wheelchair, had sneaked a gun into the high-security building.
“Having been a person with a disability, the (security) scanner alerts were deemed to be from the wheelchair,” it said.
A source at Parliament told AFP that Chiwaya shot himself in the head inside the office of the clerk of Parliament, Fiona Kalembera.
Before he became Deputy Speaker, he served as a member of Parliament from 2004.
