Malawi can turn into a wealthy, predominantly exporting and middle income country if certain preconditions are met. Success in the fight against poverty and inequality rests on our collective resolve to wage a gallant war on corruption. This largely requires total transformation in many sectors including public officers abandoning the inclination towards wastage and self-enrichment.
The insatiable appetite to amass wealth using unexplained sources, the inclination towards maximising personal gain by abusing public resources, and unquenchable thirst to satisfy personal interests while sacrificing public interests are some of the factors that are pushing Malawi into perpetual underdevelopment. However, ethics and integrity are some of the keys that have the potential to unlock Malawi from the york of poverty and deprivation.
The word ethics relates to the character and conduct of human beings. It deals with good or bad, right and wrong behaviours. Ethics also defines the state of morality which further defines forms of conduct that are deemed acceptable or unacceptable. Ethical behavior and morals could, therefore, be understood or applied differently in different societies and contexts.
However, certain behaviours and morals have a universal recognition. Examples include respect, accountability, being transparent, and honesty. These are ethical values and morals which characterise modern societies akin to civilised populations.
Ethics in the public service are critical to the realisation of national development goals. Ethical public servants demonstrate maturity and show responsiveness. Ethical public servants work hard and always ensure that public services are delivered to citizens in an efficient manner. Public servants with ethical mindset are always time conscious, practice punctuality, and make use of precious time fully knowing that time is money.
Self-restraint is another characteristic of ethical public servants. They resist temptations to abuse office resources and they are conscious of the consequences of misuse of power, authority and discretion. Other characteristics of ethical behaviours in the public service include professionalism, patriotism and political neutrality. These attributes are important because they help public servants to serve all citizens without discrimination, with impartiality, and mindful of the need to exercise fairness at all times.
Sadly, in practice, the Malawi public service has lost its glory when even the civil service was once recognised and awarded as among the best in Africa. Today, the public service, civil service, teachers, health workers and even judicial staff are known for malpractices, misconduct, corruption and all forms of malfeasance.
Examples of unethical attributes that have rocked the Malawi public service and other sectors include sexual harassment where some staff, management, and some directors of boards abuse fellow workers. Exploitation based on gender, tribe, district of origin is also rampant. Some public servants are also practice nepotism, especially during recruitment processes.
Consequently, the Malawi public service is infiltrated with low quality staff because merit has been sacrificed on the later of mediocrity. Partisan politics, patronage and rent-seeking behavior are also practices that are eating into the fibers of the public service thereby inducing moral decay and a bad politics.
Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching you. This is what we need at Capital Hill and in the district councils. Integrity and ethics are twin concepts which will rescue Malawi if put into practice.
Transparency and accountability is another set of governance tools that will redeem Malawi from current doldrums if deployed in the right places. Malawi is in urgent need to end hunger, deliver medicines to hospitals, educate our children, and revamp our collapsed road and transport infrastructure.
Success of Malawi 2063 largely depends on ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability. These are the four governance anchors that can strengthen our victory march on the battlefields of corruption, poverty and economic stagnation.
