The National Statistical Office (NSO) says results of the Governance and Corruption Survey conducted with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) will be out in two weeks-time.
According to the survey schedule, the data analysis was expected to be completed by August 19 2024 before result dissemination and validation on September 16 2024. However, about two months later, the results are yet to be released.
In an interview on Monday, NSO commissioner Shelton Kanyanda said the survey encountered few challenges and expressed optimism that the results will be disseminated within the next two weeks. However, he was elusive on what exactly triggered the delay.
“Of course, they [survey results] were not released as it was planned, but very soon, two weeks from now they will be released,” he said.
The study is being conducted with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
During the launch of the survey, then ACB director of corruption prevention Mary Phombeya, who was the survey team leader but is now seconded to Ministry of Homeland Security, is on record as having said the graft continued to worsen in the country, largely facilitated by poor public service delivery.
She said: “Truth be told, corruption is worsening because we can see that people are complaining and also public service delivery is poor. So, this is an indication that corruption is worsening in Malawi.
“The research which we are conducting is going to give us accurate information on that.”
A similar survey conducted in 2019 found that about 97 percent of the respondents viewed corruption as a serious problem and 61 percent believed it increased in 2018.
The 2023 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index data released in January showed that Malawi’s fight against corruption has weakened in the 10 years from 2012.
