Chizuma for extra gear in graft fight
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director-general Martha Chizuma says Malawi needs measures ensuring that the fight against graft is widely accepted.
She made the call in a statement yesterday as Malawi joined the African continent in commemorating the adoption of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC).
Chizuma said the country needs to reflect on what it has achieved since adoption of the convention.
She said: “We must seriously and jealously guard against any attempts to undo what we have achieved thus far. We equally must put in place necessary measures that will ensure that the fight against corruption is widely accepted as a key factor in the development of this nation.”
Recently, the Malawi Law Society (MLS) proposed corruption proofing of legislative enactments as one of the mechanisms to deal with graft before it happens.
Chizuma’s sentiments come about six months after Malawi slightly dropped from 35 to 34 on Transparency International (TI) 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, but maintained position110 out of 180 countries assessed.
The assessment, according to the TI statement released on January 30 2023, meant that despite several efforts, the country remains highly corrupt.
Main challenges hampering progress for Malawi and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa include lack of integrity among the political elite, failure to deal with procurement flaws and sanction as well as prosecute any abuses of funds for emergencies such as Covid-19recovery funds, according to the report.
The AUCPCC was adopted in Maputo on July 11 2003 to fight rampant political and bureaucratic corruption.
It represents a regional consensus on what African States should do in the areas of prevention, criminalisation, international cooperation, and asset recovery.
