Divided, we can’t win corruption jihad
Since 1995, Malawi has been singing the same song: We hate corruption; we will uproot corruption. Leaders have come and gone. The song is the same: We will root out corruption because it drains resources that should develop Malawi.
One former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) estimated some years back that about one third (over 30 percent) of Malawi’s annual budget is lost through corruption, fraud and theft. The estimation has been repeated by others, thereafter.
The Malawi Economic Justice Network said so in 2016, Foreign Policy repeated it in 2021. The list of repeaters is inexhaustible. Then, there are admissions in newspapers and in broadcast media that even the judiciary is not spared. In its 2021 survey, the Afrobarometer found that the police are perceived as the most corrupt officers followed by Malawi Revenue Authority officers, business executives, civil servants, the Office of the President and Cabinet, Members of Parliament, traditional leaders, faith leaders, councillors, judges and magistrates while the NGO leaders are considered the least corrupt (at 25 percent).
This does not mean that these are the only corrupt groupings or professionals. We have reports of lawyers being sanctioned for embezzlement of clients’ funds, insurance companies swindling clients, university lecturers awarding marks in exchange of sexual favours, female passengers exchanging sexual favours for a kabaza ride, contractors failing to deliver quality work and journalists appearing on notorious corruption lists.
It would appear every sector of the Malawian society is infected and affected. It is not uncommon, either, for the corrupt to be called unenviable names such as Boss, Biggie, Chief, Cash Passport, ATM, and Messiah.
In the wake of the 2013-2014 Cashgate scandal, Malawi has always been rated above 100 out of 180 on the Transparency International Index, with scores ranging from 30 to 35 percent. The higher the percentage score, the lower the ranking, the less the perception of corruption for a country.
The Commission of Inquiry Report into the arrest of the Anti-Corruption Director General Martha Chizuma found that there is bad blood and lack of cooperation and coordination among the very institutions and agencies that should be fighting legally to end corruption. The Police CID, the Attorney General, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the ACB, and even the National Intelligence Bureau (NIS) were found not working as one in the fight against corruption.
The recommendation of the commission of inquiry on this is simple and straight forward. It says: “Urgent action be taken to restore the dignity, integrity and trust of the offices that are involved in tackling corruption….. The ACB, the DPP, the AG, and the Judiciary should collaborate to complete prosecution of the major corruption cases to restore public confidence in the fight against corruption.”
We would wish to add that we, the average Malawians, should also stand guard and help in the corruption jihad. If we get organised into social accountability teams, we can challenge corruption at village, area, and district level.
But if we look aside and normalise corruption and join the leading plunderers in decimating our own resources, we should be the last to cry foul when we get poor service delivery.
The corruption crusade will not be won even if the politicians and agencies created to fight corruption get united and fight as one but, we the beneficiaries of anti-corruption drives do nothing and consider corruption as something normal.
Statements like “all politicians are corrupt” are often uttered without asking who gets corrupted
The Corrupt Practices Act considers corruption a two-way traffic of illegality. The corruptor gives something to the ‘corruptee’ for personal gain. Both are deemed corrupt.
Corruption is a behaviour-related and we dispute the false relationship created between poverty and corruption. If that were true, the richest would be the least corrupt and the poorest would be the most corrupt. But you know the truth.
