ACB drills Ntcheu District Council on procurement

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has drilled Ntcheu District Council’s Institutional Integrity Committee (IIC) on procurement issues to reduce corruption in public procurement.

Speaking in an interview on Monday after the training, the district’s IIC chairperson Hastings Mlambuzi said the training as an eye-opener.

“We have learnt how to monitor procurement and disposal issues at the district level,” he said.

Mlambuzi, who is also Ntcheu District Council director of administration, said the committee has learned steps to follow when procuring and tendering for services.

“The IIC’s availability is not to police council staff but to ensure things are done in a proper way,” he said.

On his part, ACB corruption prevention officer Richard James said the National Anti-Corruption Strategy II mandates IICs to monitor procurement among other roles at district council level.

“The strategy decentralises the fight against corruption by establishing and empowering IICs to initiate anti- corruption interventions at the institutional level,” he said.

In random interviews, residents at Ntcheu Boma welcomed the establishment of IICs in councils as one way to enforce transparency and accountability.

James Mathanga, who sells potatoes at Ntcheu Market, said there was need to put in place mechanisms to protect public funds.

“Corruption retards development. We want councils to follow proper procedures when awarding contracts, buying goods and services because this is public money,” he said.

In recent times, ACB has engaged councils and communities on the evils of corruption.