Kachale criticises politicisation of public contracts, jobs

 High Court of Malawi Judge Chifundo Kachale has mentioned politicisation of public contracts and jobs as one challenge limiting the strengthening of patriotism and professionalism in the country.

He said this in a keynote address delivered on Tuesday evening during the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) panel discussion in Lilongwe involving health, justice and procurement authorities.

Kachale, who is also Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson, said: “The other cultural limitation is the politicisation of matters of common national interest… Even as I make those remarks I am very much aware that by just standing in this space to make certain pronouncements somebody is trying to locate me politically.

“We are so poisoned by our politics that there are certain businesses certain people will not get by virtue of their perceived political position.

“There are certain jobs and certain opportunities certain people will not get by virtue of politics. And yet, somehow, we would like to talk about patriotism.”

He also mentioned a culture of hypocrisy and lack of emphasis on ethical standards and moral values as other factors contributing to unpatriotic and unprofes s ional conducts.

Kachale observed that the two vices hinder economic and social transformation.

He said there is need for ethical education to be “emphasised in our formal training as well as within our workplaces”.

Kachale said: “Without adequate attention to the issue of ethical education, we can have people with excellent technical skills who have no hint of integrity.

“In order to uphold professional standards in the workplace, it is necessary to enforce discipline in the event of default. Experience shows that generally people are happy when sanctions are enforced on someone else or someone they don’t like.”

The other remedy, Kachale said was mindset change which should be emphasised in the Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development strategy.

He said: “One key driver which has been recognised in that document is the question of mindset change. In other contexts, we have a bigger word for that mindset change, we call it repentance.

“For example, we need  a change of mind about the need for people to be held accountable when they are wrong irrespective of their social status, ethnicity or other such considerations.”

Ombudsman Grace Malera, who was one of the panel members, also shared Kachale’s observation that much was not being done to discipline officers which has killed the spirit of professionalism.

She condemned public officers for hiding information, saying this defeats the push for accountability.

Malera cited the government failure to provide information on allowances spent during this year’s United Nations General Assembly despite media insistence.

Moderator of the discussion Ronald Mangani, who teaches economics at the University of Malawi, queried Malawi Police Service on what it is doing to clear the perception that it is the most corrupt institution as per the 2022 Afrobarometer survey.

In response, Malawi Police director of spiritual, integrity and counselling Father Steven Likhucha acknowledged that some police officers were corrupt.

However, he said the service was working out strategies to create a corruption-free police.

In her remarks, ACB director general Martha Chizuma said the event achieved its goal of making office-bearers accountable.

The discussion was held under the theme ‘Restoring patriotism and professionalism to the workplace’.