MDF most trusted public institution—Afrobarometer
A new public perception survey conducted in the country by the US-based Afrobarometer has revealed that the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) is the most trusted among the country’s public institutions.
The survey reveals that 78 percent of Malawians have trust in the country’s security organ because of its high-level professionalism and neutrality stand on issues.
The courts of law come second at 70 percent followed by the police (60 percent) then the Malawi Electoral Commission at 57 percent. The survey was conducted in March and April this year before the May 20 Tripartite Elections.
At the time of the survey, the presidency of Joyce Banda and her People’s Party (PP) were the least trusted with 29 and 34 percent of Malawians having trust in them respectively.
This was a sharp decline from 2012 when 58 percent of Malawians had trust in Banda’s presidency while 60 percent trusted her party.
The survey also shows that during Banda’s presidency, corruption was thought to have increased, particularly in 2013.
“The perceptions held in March 2014 were based on reasoning or not may have influenced the election [May 20], if one chooses to believe them,” states the survey.
Reacting to the survey, MDF spokesperson lieutenant colonel Francis Kakhuta Banda said yesterday the news was a great encouragement to the institution.
“It is a very welcome development and encouraging news that the citizens of Malawi have trust in their defence force. We can’t thank them more apart from urging them to continue trusting us,” said Banda.
Afrobarometer is a US-based independent non-partisan research network of researchers from 35 African countries that measures the social, political and economic atmosphere across Africa.
