Malawi’s former deputy speaker of parliament Clement Chiwaya committed suicide inside the parliament building on Thursday following a dispute over vehicle benefits.
In a statement, parliament said Chiwaya shot himself in the head inside parliament where he had gone for a meeting with Clerk of Parliament Fiona Kalembera to discuss vehicle benefits entitled to him when he left office in 2019.
Parliament “regrets to inform the public that the former deputy speaker… committed suicide at the parliament building,” it said in a statement.
The suicide was allegedly linked to “frustration with the implementation of his conditions of service.”
In a suicide note, Chiwaya claimed that he bought his official vehicle at the end of his five-year term in 2019 as provided for in his contract.
“My heart and spirit have been brought down not because of the possession such as a vehicle but the persistent begging that I am doing to get what belongs to me,” the note said.
JN/APA