'Backbenchers are not useless': Chimwendo Banda defends MP moved for praising President

Member of Parliament for Dowa East and MCP Secretary General, Richard Chimwendo Banda, has waded into the ongoing controversy over the seat change for Mangochi Monkey Bay MP Gerald Kazembe, dismissing the move as nothing more than "normal parliamentary management" that plays out on all sides of the House.

Rising on a point of order, Chimwendo Banda made clear that sitting at the back of the chamber says nothing about how valued or important a member is within their party, insisting that every MP carries equal weight in the House regardless of where they happen to be seated.

In a striking personal admission, the senior party figure revealed that even he — as Secretary General of the MCP — regularly sits in the backbenches himself.

"It doesn't mean I'm not important," he declared firmly, brushing off any suggestion that seating position reflects political standing.

Chimwendo Banda went on to explain that party leadership on both sides of the House has always had the authority to reshuffle where members sit, describing such changes as simply part of the ordinary rhythm of parliamentary life rather than any form of punishment or demotion.

The MCP chief scribe was clear on the rules governing the chamber, explaining that Standing Orders specifically designate frontbench seating for Cabinet Ministers alone, who occupy those positions in order to account for government business on behalf of the executive.

"Sitting on the backbenches in Parliament does not mean a Member of Parliament is useless or unimportant," Chimwendo Banda declared firmly.

He went further still, stressing that no parliamentary regulation exists to justify penalising or sidelining MPs by shifting their seating as a form of political retaliation.

"The rules of the House strictly designate frontbench seats for Ministers. There are no parliamentary regulations that support penalizing or marginalizing MPs by shifting their seats over personal political expressions," he said.

Chimwendo Banda reiterated that every elected representative, regardless of where they physically sit within the chamber, carries an equal constitutional mandate to represent their constituents and contribute meaningfully to debates shaping the nation's future.

His remarks are likely to reignite debate over the increasingly tense political atmosphere within Malawi's National Assembly, where seating arrangements — traditionally a matter of procedural formality — appear to be emerging as yet another flashpoint in the country's deepening political divisions.

The incident also raises fresh questions over how parliamentary conventions may be informally used to signal disapproval or dissent within party ranks, particularly as political tensions continue to simmer ahead of the country's next electoral cycle.