Corruption will soon overwhelm us –MLS president
Out-going Malawi Law Society (MLS) president Khumbo Soko has warned that unless Malawi takes some radical path in curbing corruption, the fight against corruption will remain lip-service.
In an exclusive interview on Thursday with Nation Online, Soko said there still remains a massive room for improvement not only in interventions that will prevent corruption from happening in the first place but also in as far as robust and quality investigations and prosecution was concerned.
He explained, “As a nation, we will never really begin to win the war on corruption unless we are bold enough to follow the evidence of wrongdoing wherever it leads us. This requires us to unleash our law enforcement and prosecution agencies so they work without any kind of interference, overt or subtle.
“When you look at every preceding survey of public perception on incidences of corruption in the country, you will notice that the views of the majority responding is that corruption is on the rise. It also obliges us to ensure that we put at their [law enforcement agencies] disposal adequate resources for their work. I doubt we have reached that stage where we can say we are winning in the fight against corruption. In fact, if we are not careful, corruption will soon completely overwhelm us.”
Soko, who leaves office this month after 12 months at the helm of the institution, also bemoaned the limited political will in curbing fraud in the country.
“Talk is cheap. I think folks should be judged on the basis of what they actually do. And if you begin to subject politicians to judgment and scrutiny on the basis of what they are actually doing rather than on their compelling lyrics, you will easily come to the conclusion that the will is half-hearted at best or totally non-existent at worst.” He said.
In a separate interview, Mzuzu-based governance expert Makhumbo Munthali shared the sentiments put across by the Law Society.
He argued that one would always want justice to prevail whenever dealing with these issues of corruption, something which he said continues to evade the country’s political master “thereby creating growing perception that certain ‘big fishes’ are being shielded.
“It certainly defeats the whole efforts lined up to show we are fighting corruption.
“Someone said that managing to convict one ‘big fish’ sends an equally bigger message to the nation at large than trying to make a statement through arresting the small ‘fish. An example can be cited of the [Bakili] Muluzi corruption case that has dragged close to 12 years with no end in sight.
“Also on how government has been growing cold feet in the Chaponda case at a time it was trying to portray itself that it’s fighting corruption. Simply put, there hasn’t been enough and steady steps taken to prosecute them and that ended up derailing the good efforts government was trying to make in the fight. It paints a negative picture on its very own efforts.” He added.
Governance experts have over the years been lobbying subsequent governments to desist from interfering with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to ensure efficiency of the institution in combating corruption, unfortunately appointing powers still rests with the State Presidency.
