Corruption not political—APM
President Peter Mutharika has said people should stop politicising corruption and work in solidarity towards curbing the vice for the betterment of the country.
The President, speaking during the elevation of Senior Chief Ngolongoliwa to Lhomwe Paramount Chief at Chonde, in Mulanje yesterday, said he knows that corruption cuts across all sectors of the Malawian society.
He said he cannot single-handedly travel the length and breadth of the country to end corruption; hence, the need for concerted efforts.
In a speech monitored on taxpayer-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, Mutharika said his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration was committed to ending the high levels of corruption in the country, having increased budget allocation for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the 2017/18 fiscal year.
His sentiments come a week after ACB director general Lucas Kondowe accused politicians of abusing the term ‘corruption’ to soil their rivals’ images.
In his brief to the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament during discussion of Vote number 510 which allocates funding to the graft-busting body, Kondowe said: “We [ACB] are aware of the perception of ACB being used as a tool to suppress the opposition. But that is just mere perception. We are professionals and we carry out our duties professionally.”
While hitting at his critics on the issue of seven Cabinet ministers allegedly embroiled in corruption scandals, the President said: “I have been begging to have the names of the seven so-called ministers, but I have not received the names up to date. So, the best you can do is to abduct them and tie them either in orange or blue ropes and drop them at Capital Hill roundabout.”
The President, who called on Ngolongoliwa to pledge his allegiance to government for the development of the country at large, further boasted that his DPP administration will not let Malawians suffer or die because of hunger as has been reported previously, saying his government is putting in place several mechanisms to deal with any challenges coming forthwith.
While commending Mutharika for elevating chiefs in the country, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Kondwani Nankhumwa asked the President to consider elevating chiefs under Ngolongoliwa so that they help him in governing.
The minister said Ngolongoliwa’s elevation has created some gaps, hence the President needs to elevate some chiefs to fill in the gaps.
In her remarks, DPP secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey also urged chiefs in the country to work in close collaboration with government for the country to keep moving forward.
She cautioned chiefs against being double-faced.
Ngolongoliwa has taken over from the late Paramount Chief Mkhumba of Phalombe who died in July 2014 aged 82 after a long illness. n
