Former minister shoots himself in Malawi parliament

A former government minister in Malawi killed himself in parliament on Thursday, authorities said.

Clement Chiwaya, 50, shot himself in the head in front of parliament clerk Fiona Kalemba using a pistol he hid in his wheelchair.

Police said Mr Chiwaya wrote a note before his suicide referring to a two-year argument with parliament officials over who should pay for crash damage to his vehicle.

He said he had begged parliament to replace his vehicle, which he insisted it was required to do. A court also ruled parliament should replace it.

He bought the vehicle in 2019 from parliament at the end of his five-year term as a minister but officials delayed transferring ownership to him, leading to the insurance being invalid at the time of the crash six months later.

The vehicle was modified to allow Mr Chiwaya, who had polio as a child, to drive it.

The suicide note was found on Mr Chiwaya's mobile phone, and he sent it to the parliament clerk on WhatsApp moments before killing himself in front of her in her office, police said.

“I am not a violent person. While it would have been easier to hurt others with the means I have, I don't want that to be my legacy,” he wrote.

“Parliament feels they have the audacity to deny me what belongs to me and I have to go and beg them. I have had enough of that. With a fully loaded gun I could have killed these people, but I will go alone.”

Parliament said Mr Chiwaya had set off alarms when he passed through metal detectors at the entrance but security thought it was his wheelchair. Security would be enhanced around the building, it said.

Mr Chiwaya became a member of parliament in 2004 and later served as deputy speaker.

Additional reporting by Associated Press