PRESIDENT CHAKWERA HAS ASSENTED TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES BILL

President of the republic of Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera has assented to  Bill number 23 of 2023, Persons with Disabilities into law. In a press statement released on February 1st and signed by presidential  Press Secretary, Anthony Kasunda, said bill No. 23 of Persons with Disabilities has been assented to."In exercise of his powers vested in him by section 89 of the constitution, His

Excellency Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, president of the republic of Malawi has assented to Bill No. 23 of 2023 Persons with disabilities", reads the statement in part. Persons with Disabilities Bill which seeks to repeal among others, the old Handicapped Persons Act of 1971,  was tabled and passed in parliament on December 6, 2023. The development shows that the disability sector has its new Persons with Disabilities Act. The president has also assented to eight other bills including the Ombudsman amendment, Tobacco Industry, Data protection, Electronic Transaction & Cyber Security amendment, and International Arbitration.

According to the statement, the president has dissented from the Political Parties Amendment Bill which parliament passed last year. The bill among others proposed that all political parties represented in parliament should be getting funding from the government for their day-to-day activities. The dissenting is due to the failure of the bill to comply with section 40(2) of the country's constitution.