‘Malawians should continue speaking against corruption’

As the debates on Capital Hill looting continues, EPHRAIM NYONDO talks with political analyst Michael Jana to gauge the heart of the matter.

Q

: What was your first impression having heard of the looting revelations at Capital Hill?

A

: I was not surprised at all. I know corruption is and has been happening in Malawi in every sector and in many forms. During Kamuzu Banda’s era, we could not differentiate State property, party property or Kamuzu’s property. During Bakili Muluzi’s era, corruption was free-for-all; actually evidence shows that corruption worsened in Malawi from around 1997 onwards. During Bingu wa Mutharika’s era, corruption started to take another shape where a class of people who were mostly connected to the powers that be enjoyed some rents from the State. So, from centralised corruption of Kamuzu to decentralised corruption of Muluzi to ‘aristocratic’ corruption of Bingu, you can see that Malawi society has been infested with corruption since independence. And given the structure of Malawi’s economy where the private sector is so underdeveloped that the State remains the only meaningful avenue for affluence, I can argue upfront without fear of contradiction that every Malawian, from the President at the State House, to civil society organisation (CSOs) directors, to lawyers, police officers, immigration officials all the way to an accounts clerk in Chitipa, every Malawian is a potential public funds vampire.

Q

:  The looting revelations came barely after Paul Mphwiyo was shot, and the President said he was shot because of his stance on corruption. The President even said she knew those behind the shooting. Now what do you make of the President’s statement in the light of the level of looting that has been exposed?

A

: Honestly, I don’t know what the President was communicating there, and I don’t know why she made that statement, especially when she later told Malawians not to speculate and wait for the investigations by the police and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Was she implying that she is above the police or the ACB? I mean, she started the speculations herself when she said she knew who was responsible. Was she pre-empting something? I think Malawians have all the right to speculate here until the investigations tell us what happened and the culprits are brought to justice. And I should add my speculation that if this looting is also involving some top officials in the Executive, I doubt if the police and the ACB will do anything apart from arresting some small fish. We know how in the past these institutions have been used to prosecute some cases but shield some top officials. It is only when this government gets out of office that some truth will start coming out. So, Malawians should continue making noise in whatever form, be it demonstrations or in the media. After all, it is our resources that are being looted.

Q

:  In December 2012, you expressed concern over how President Joyce Banda will govern given the little time she has to the tripartite elections. Years on, how do you assess your concern given the scandals that are rocking her government?

A

: To be fair to the President, I think she came in as a fire fighter to bring the Malawi economy back on track given the mess she inherited. And I think she deserves some credit; things are better than on the eve of Mutharika’s demise. However, if you analyse some of her policies, actions and inactions, most are made merely to increase her and her party’s chances to win the 2014 elections; and not necessarily because the policies have merit. For instance, I don’t understand why government would come up with the whole thing on Mudzi Trust, which seems to run parallel to the established local government. Why not strengthen the local government and introduce the housing project within the local government or come up with a better social protection policy? Why duplicate efforts and costs? This, to me, is one example of poor governance that seems to be necessitated by need for mere political visibility given the 2014 elections. In this context, when such corruption scandals as the Capital Hill saga happen, it would be naïve to rule out political influences—be it in governance laxity or participation in the loot.

Q

:  CSOs have given the President 30 days to act. The private sector is calling for people to stop paying taxes and for the President to resign. In assessing these calls, what would be the best way forward over this?

A

: As I have said, I think corruption in Malawi is systemic; it is entrenched in society. And I should indicate that the type of corruption that has been harmful to the Malawi economy and people’s well-being has been the official corruption where public officials use public authority and resources for private gain. This, therefore, needs corrective measures at all levels in the short, medium to long term.

In the short to medium term, I think Malawi needs to strengthen legal measures to curb corruption. For instance, I think the ACB is not effective because the director, who approves all investigations and prosecutions, can be hired and fired by the President. As a result, he often fails to investigate cases involving top government officials, especially if the Executive is implicated. I think Malawi needs an independent body to make appointments to such positions as the ACB director and other similar positions so that the holders of such positions should be guaranteed of their job security even if they are pursuing cases involving the Executive.

The Malawi Parliament committee system also needs an overhaul. It seems that the parliamentary committees have not been very effective to oversee Executive actions and inactions. There have been cases during Mutharika government where top government officials who were summoned to appear before the committees simply did not pitch up, obviously at the advice of Executive members apparently because they were implicated. In such cases, the committees seemed to have no power to pursue the cases further. Even if government officials appear before the committees, there are many reports and recommendations by the committees that are not acted upon for political reasons and the committees have no power to pursue the cases further. I think the parliamentary committees need to be empowered to pursue these cases further, even if it means referring them to an independent ACB director of Director of Public Prosecution. I am sure legal experts can design such lock-in mechanisms.

Q

: Anything you would like to add?

A

: It should be noted that corruption is not unique to Malawi or to Africa. Corruption happens everywhere in the world. From crony capitalism in the United States of America to bribes in South Korea and China. However, the type of corruption that is harmful to Malawi is the official corruption where State resources and power are used for private gains. That is where we should target our efforts to solve the problem. n