Malawi’s former deputy speaker shot himself dead inside parliament in the capital, Lilongwe, on Thursday, reported Africa News.
Clement Chiwaya, who was a wheelchair user, had gone to the parliament to discuss vehicle benefits entitled to him when he left office two years ago. He shot himself in the head inside the parliament clerk Fiona Kalembera’s office.
Born in 1971, Chiwaya contracted polio when he was two years old. He became a disability rights activist. He served as a member of parliament from 2004 before becoming the parliament’s deputy speaker. He served as deputy speaker between 2014 and 2019.
In a statement, Malawi’s parliament stated that it “regrets to inform the public that the former deputy speaker … committed suicide at the parliament building.”
As per the statement, the incident was in relation to frustration with the implementation of his conditions of service.
The 50-years-old Chiwaya had bought his official vehicle after the completion of his five-year term in 2019. But he had approached the parliament to pay for damages incurred in an accident that happened six months later.
In his note he left shortly before the shooting, he wrote about the dispute he had with parliamentary officials over the ownership of a specially adapted vehicle. He said he was tired of begging for what belonged to him and said he took his own life for fear of hurting others.
In its statement, the parliament said Chiwaya was involved in an accident while using his purchased vehicle and the vehicle’s comprehensive insurance had expired at the time of the accident.
Malawi’s Police are now investigating how Chiwaya was able to invade the parliament’s heavy security and enter the premises with a loaded pistol. In its statement, parliament said that security officials thought that it was his wheelchair that triggered the metal detectors.
