A former deputy speaker in Malawi on Thursday took his own life in parliament, where he had gone for a meeting, parliament said.

Clement Chiwaya, who was 50, had gone to discuss vehicle benefits entitled to him when he left office in 2019.

Police spokesperson James Kadadzera confirmed the incident but refused to give details until he had received a full report from investigators.

Parliament "regrets to inform the public that the former deputy speaker... died by suicide at the parliament building," it said in a statement.

It said the incident was linked to "frustration with the implementation of his conditions of service."

Chiwaya bought his official vehicle at the end of his five-year term in 2019, as provided for in his contract. 

But he had tried to get parliament to pay for damages incurred in an accident that happened six months later.

He took the case to court. The legal process is still pending.

The statement from parliament appeared to suggest that Chiwaya, who moved in a wheelchair, had sneaked a gun into the high-security building.

"Having been a person with a disability, the (security) scanner alerts were deemed to be from the wheelchair," it said.

A source at parliament told AFP that Chiwaya shot himself in the head inside the office of the clerk of parliament, Fiona Kalembera.

Before he became deputy speaker, he served as a member of parliament from 2004.