Development

Can Malawi sail through the political turbulence in 2015?

During his inauguration in June 2014, President Peter Mutharika spoke strongly on the Rule of Law: “…Malawians are waiting to know who did what. Malawians need their plundered resources paid back. Malawians need justice delivered and no one should blackmail the State by saying this is witch-hunting.”

And in early October 2014, the German Embassy provided the country with a cash injection of 240 000 euro (about K9.76 billion) towards yet another comprehensive forensic audit of ministries and government departments.

Some of the vehicles confiscated by the police over Cashgate
Some of the vehicles confiscated by the police over Cashgate

The embassy said: “The audit is to quantify the amount misappropriated over the period 2009-2013.”

Earlier in 2003, government had, with recommendation from the British government, hired an audit firm, Baker Tilly, to conduct an audit exercise following reports of massive fraud and corruption at the Accountant General’s office due to abuse of the government’s accounting system dubbed Ifmis.

And this time, with the Germans funding the second comprehensive audit, government had settled for Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC) as the auditing firm to help trace abuse of public funds at Capital Hill. PwC is the same firm assisting the National Audit Office in its reform activities.

The news may have caused a stir within both the ruling and the opposition sides of government.

Both the leading opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) welcomed the development, with Jessie Kabwila arguing this presented government with a chance to rise above partisan politics for the common good.

“The UDF believes in good management of the public funds and resources so that they benefit all Malawians. Public officers should account for public resources. Public funds must be audited in line with the laws of the land and as a party; we have no qualms with any audit even if it was to start in 1964,” said UDF spokesperson, Ken Ndanga.

While the development may have been treated with ease by the opposition, the same cannot be said of the ruling party and the People’s Party. Panic may have gripped some in the administration of what may befall them if they get implicated while in office. On the other hand, to PP, the playing field might have finally appeared levelled.

Ever since the scandal—probably the worst by public officers in recent years—came to light, the party, led by Banda, had been saying they were not the only black sheep among the flock.

And on several occasions, especially in the run up to the May Tripartite Elections the PP—while not denying a hand in the milking of government coffers—had been calling for investigations over the issue to stretch a little further backwards beyond their reign.

And welcoming the news for a fresh audit, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) national secretary Chris Chisoni said: “It is very critical that the governance systems and structures, including Malawi’s image, should be in tandem with its development partners. This can, among other means, be possible by conducting exercises such as forensic audits. It will bring back credibility, both public and international confidence into our government.”

But doubts still linger in some quarters whether President Mutharika will allow holy cows from his flock to be prosecuted should the audits implicate them?

MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwila thinks it is a non-starter.

“I honestly don’t see that happening. The President is surrounded by a lot of sacred cows, most of whom actually believe they are above the law. Leaving them out of his Cabinet would have been easier than taking action against them [if implicated],” she says.

And Ndanga urged caution when he explained: “It is wrong to assume that the 2009 audit will implicate those in power. If one looks at the suspects arrested so far, there are only a few politicians and the majority are civil servants”.

But whatever these fresh audits may bring to light, a lot will depend on the approach the leadership takes.

Spokesperson for the Civil Society Coalition, Lucky Crown Mbewe ,summed it all: “The onus is on us but we first need to demonstrate that we are committed and capable of managing resources before we start asking for help.”

Talking of justice, CCJP believes the courts and ACB should be independent enough to deal with all suspects, adding that the two, and the police, should not appear to be consolidating the public perception that only those in opposition parties are being targeted.

“The cases must be depoliticised. Malawians have watched the politicisation of criminal cases with anger and disgust,” says Chisoni.

MCP hopes the Constitution will be upheld and that justice will take its course.

Thus the words from National Audit Office spokesperson, Thomas Chafunya, who recently expressed optimism in the exercise having all the support “as the President made it clear that the office of the Auditor General will work free from any interference or obstruction as that would act against Section 184, Sub-Section 7 and 8 of the Constitution,”, should offer some solace and hope to many.

Related Articles

One Comment

  1. Malawi can do better if we stop entertaining every western engineered propaganda and activism. Needless oppositions

Check Also
Close
Back to top button