Chakwera for strong open governance and citizen engagement

President Lazarus Chakwera has said greater transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement are key for Malawi to attain her development aspirations by 2063.

The President made the remarks during the opening of the 8th Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit being held in Tallinn, Estonia.

Speaking virtually, Chakwera highlighted the journey Malawi has taken towards making Government more transparent and responsive, areas it is prioritising in the implementation of its OGP National Action Plan and the progress registered so far.

He said: “Last year, when I hosted Malawi’s first ever Anti-Corruption Conference, I declared war on corruption and embarked on a vigorous campaign against it.

“But ultimately, the goal is not merely to win the fight, but to establish public trust in the integrity of public institutions and systems of public service delivery.”

Chakwera added that his Administration’s focus is on the entrenchment of the best practices of good governance driven by transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement.

“It is this commitment that moved me to urgently re-activate Malawi’s membership into the OGP in December 2022. And I am immensely proud to tell you that two months ago, the Malawi National Action Plan for Open Government Partnership 2023-2025 (NAP) was launched.

“This speaks to our National Development Blueprint, the Malawi 2063 Vision, which aspires to turning Malawi into an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant industrialized upper-middle-income country,” he added.

Chakwera then said Malawi has completed a National Digitalization Policy to widen the scope of ICT, and that the country is developing legislation for the protection of whistleblowers which will heavily rely on ICT processes and systems.

The OGP Global summit is underway in Tallinn, Estonia. The Malawi multi-stakeholder delegation to the Summit is led by Deputy Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Janet Banda, a Senior Counsel (SC).
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