Member of Parliament for Rumphi East Kamlepo Kalua on Wednesday turned the August House into a laughing house after feeding the house with the news that Malawi’s First Lady Gertrude Mutharika has been awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Management from the University of Malawi.

Madam Mutharika was awarded the degree on Wednesday at Chancellor College for her role in conserving the environment through her newly launched Beautify Malawi trust (BEAM).

Standing on point of order in Parliament, Kalua question the government benches motive for not feeding the house that Madam Mutharika has been awarded with honorary degree.

Kamlepo, popularly known as the ‘foot soldier’ said the honour given to Madam Mutharika is something that Parliament and the whole nation should be proud of.

Business came to a standstill for close to five minutes as all members including the first Deputy Speaker Esther Mcheka Chilenje in the house started laughing.

In her ruling after the laughter, Chilenje ruled Kamlepo out of order, saying the issue is not part of the discussions.

On his part, Leader of government in the house Francis Kasaila ordered the Deputy Speaker to scrap off Kalua’s, saying the house of the first lady needs respect.

Kasaila said it’s not good for MPs to be bringing issue in the house that people mentioned will not be able to defend themselves.

Meanwhile Chilenje scraped off Kalua’s statement from the parliamentary records.