Several ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have emerged as “enablers” of corruption by failing to monitor their service delivery or procurement, which accounts for 70 percent of graft cases.
A new Institutional Integrity Committee (IIC) compliance monitoring report shows that while several MDAs and local government authorities (LGAs) are tasked to promote institutional integrity by identifying and addressing systemic weaknesses in anti-corruption measures, 37 of the 79 MDAs sampled and four of the LGAs scored below 50 percent on compliance.
Reads the report in part: “Good performance has been observed under LGAs with 55 percent scoring above 75 percent. These have been followed by Statutory Corporations where 33 percent scored above 75 percent.
“Other MDAs have not performed very well with 35 percent of them scoring above 50 percent.”
The worst performing MDAs include Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs at 1.3 percent, Central Government Stores at eight percent, Malawi Legal Aid Bureau at 17 percent, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital at 15.8 percent, Ministry of Health and Sanitation at 17.4 percent, Ministry of Defence at 17.7 percent and Ministry of Mining at 18.4 percent.
Among the LGAs, the worst performers are Nkhotakota District Council at 15.3 percent, Blantyre City Council at 31.8, Chitipa District Council at 35.3 percent and Nsanje District Council at 45.9 percent.
The IICs are also required to monitor procurement processes or service delivery within their respective institutions at least once every quarter.
The report further shows that LGAs performed well at 79 percent followed by Statutory Corporations at 58 percent while other MDAs, mostly ministries, had an average of 48 percent compliance rate.
Recommends the report: “The monitoring exercise also established that 42 percent of the IICs conducted at least four procurement or service monitoring exercises and 14.3 percent conducted at least two exercises.
“The OPC [Office of the President and Cabinet] should facilitate the establishment of IICs in all MDAs as currently only 132 out of 208 MDAs have IICs in place. The LAC [Legal Affairs Committee] should summon controlling officers of all underperforming institutions into account for their underperformance.”
Other parameters include quarterly reports, anti-corruption plan, compliance with one percent of other recurrent transactions funding circular, establishment of reporting mechanisms and integrity test/review of system and procedures.
In a written response to a questionnaire yesterday, OPC Principal Secretary for Good Governance Unit Reinford Mwangonde said while the new government “inherited a completely broken-down system that was designed for abuse, loot and plunder,” it will not downplay the findings.
“The findings are concerning, and we do not intend to downplay them. The IIC mechanism was established to strengthen internal accountability within MDAs and local government authorities. Where ministries and agencies are scoring poorly, particularly in monitoring procurement and enforcing fraud-prevention instruments, this indicates implementation gaps that must be addressed urgently,” said Mwangonde.
He said government is working towards, among others, linking IIC performance to performance appraisals of controlling officers.
Mwangonde said: “It requires remedial action plans for low-performing MDAs and strengthening oversight through the OPC and the Ministry of Finance.
“Further, we will have to escalate persistent non-compliance to appropriate administrative review mechanisms. Non-compliance should not be normalised if institutions are to take integrity committees seriously.”
National Advocacy Platform chairperson Benedicto Kondowe in a separate interview said when institutions do not monitor procurement or service delivery, inflated contracts, bid-rigging, ghost supplies and overpricing become easier to conceal.
Concurring with Kondowe, National Anti-Corruption Alliance chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa said when IICs that are internal watchdogs are asleep, corruption grows freely.
Anti-corruption law expert Jai Banda suggested increased transparency in government dealings and contracts and enhanced accountability through parliamentary oversight and citizen-led monitoring.
Malawi has stagnated in efforts to fight corruption in the past four years, with Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index showing that since 2022, the country has maintained its score at 34 points, but has only been moving up on ranking.
