Outgoing United States Head of Mission Amy Diaz says she regrets that Malawi has not yet cracked the code for fighting corruption as she has seen more people getting poorer than when she first arrived.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Nation at the end of her tour of duty, she said seeing more people become poorer was a concern.
Said Diaz: “After three years, living in Malawi has been sweet for me and there is so much I am going to miss. One thing that feels the most undone for me is that I have seen more Malawians ending up poor in the last three years than when I first arrived.
“I don’t think that we have really cracked the secret of how to address corruption in meaningful ways. But also what feels undone is how the country can really attract the resources necessary to transform the economy. These are the things that I will look back on and say I really wish I had done this and that.”
A World Bank report released in April this year estimated than additional 417 000 people in Malawi will this year fall below the international poverty line of $2.15 (about K3 764) per day.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures also show increasing poverty levels with GDP per capita income dropping over the past four years to $463.73 (about K810 713) in 2024 from a peak of $580.92 (about K1 million) in 2021.
But whereas the World Bank and IMF attributed the poor economic performance to natural disasters such as Cyclone Freddy and El Nino, Diaz cited corruption as another major factor.
She said the real work to reduce corruption lies in Malawians holding leaders accountable and voting for leaders that will seriously tackle the vice.
“I have spoken against corruption and a lack of meaningful progress in holding corrupt actors accountable. We have also taken action in restricting issuing visa to public officials that are involved in corruption and families that benefit from corruption,” said Diaz.
Lawyer and human rights activist Benedicto Kondowe said current statistics show that 30 percent of the national budget goes down the drain through corruption and fraud.
He agreed with Diaz that electing leaders that would act on corruption is critical.
Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu defended the government, saying the Lazarus Chakwera administration has been very prompt in ensuring that the Anti-Corruption Bureau [ACB] has capacity to fight corruption.
“The first step in going beyond rhetoric in the fight against corruption is ensuring that the graft fighting body is well capacitated in terms of both financial and human resources.
“The departing US envoy was privileged to be the first to witness this unprecedented capacity transformation of the ACB.”
