By Pemphero Malimba:
Parliament Tuesday passed four bills that seek to improve service delivery in the country.
The bills are bill number 26 of 2024, the Insurance Bill; bill number 27 of 2024, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) Bill; bill number 25 of 2024, the Financial Service Amendment Bill; and, bill number 30 of 2024, the Value Added Tax Amendment Bill.
The bills were passed after the opposition, particularly the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), raised some concerns.
For example, DPP Member of Parliament for Mangochi South West, Shadric Namalomba, accused the government side of trying to pass the bill without consulting all stakeholders.
Namalomba cited the Insurance Bill, which, he claimed, sought to enrich insurance companies.
“This bill is there to enrich insurance companies. Do insurance companies have other avenues of making money? Why should they be requiring individuals to insure public buildings? Why should they be giving loans to insurance holders yet there are banks which are licenced to do that? Why should they do that?” Namalomba said.
However, Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda said the bill sought to sanitise the insurance industry.
“This bill is trying to empower regulators to look at how we can reinforce some standards that can be followed by insurance companies and even insurance blockers.
“It does also provide an opportunity for collaboration but also improving the working relationship among insurance blockers, insurance companies and policyholders. So, in essence, the bill is much better now than it was before,” Chithyola Banda said.
He trashed fears of the opposition.
“All these fears are based on speculation and we are, actually, having fears in anticipation. I would really love that they allow us to implement provisions of this bill. If there might be problems, they will come back to us and there will be room for us to address them. But, as far as the consultations we made with all stakeholders are concerned, everyone is saying that this bill is better than the one we had before,” he said.
Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda commended Second Deputy Speaker Aisha Adams for the way she chaired deliberations.
Chimwendo Banda also commended political party representatives for their contributions towards the bills.
The Insurance Bill, which was passed without any amendment, repeals and replaces the current insurance Act number 47 and seeks to provide for licencing and authorising of key players in the insurance industry.
The PPDA Bill, which was passed with an amendment, seeks to repeal and replace the PPDA Act chapter 37:03 to, among other things, provide for a procuring and disposing entity to seek clearance from the Anti-Corruption Bureau to use the single-sourcing method of procurement and strengthen the independence of the PPDA Authority.
The Financial Service Amendment Bill, which was passed with an amendment, seeks to amend the Financial Services Act (Cap. 44:05) to address gaps in the regulation and supervision of financial institutions and to improve provisions for statutory management and resolution of problematic financial institutions.
On the other hand, the VAT amendment Bill, which seeks to amend the VAT Act (Cap. 42:02) in order to introduce a standard rate of Value Added Tax for various goods, was also passed with an amendment.
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