Africa-Press – Malawi. The country’s The Centre for Mindset Change (CMC) and Centre for Democracy Watch (CDW) have challenged Malawi Parliament to repeal the law that protects the sitting president from prosecution.
The duo observe that the nation cannot successfully win the battle against corruption unless Section 91 of the Constitution of Malawi is amended to allow for the prosecution of sitting Heads of State in any civil and criminal proceedings.
CMC Executive Director Phillip Kamangirah and CDW National Coordinator, Levi Luwemba told the joint press conference on Thursday, February 24, 2022 in the capital Lilobgwe that section 91is the source of the problems hampering the operations of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Kamangirah and Luwemba observed that due to “too much powers the sitting Head of State has, he can easily overstep his authority to interfere in the operations of the Bureau.”
“The Office of the Anti-Corruption Bureau has been taken and hijacked by politicians who have looted and are continuously looting public resources through animated means of corruption.
“We are bleeding as a people when we see poor infrastructure development and social services due to corruption and yet nobody is able to see that our hearts are heavy with this bleeding. We strongly believe that corruption is the enemy of development and of good governance. It must be got rid of at all cost,” reads the statement in part.
Kamangirah and Luwemba have urged the government and citizens themselves to come together to defend ACB Director General, Martha Chizuma, against the intimidation from corruption suspects.
“Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fiber and destroys trust. It eventually guilt the corrupt and it hardens the innocent who suffer as a result of it. As a country we have suffered enough and now is time for us to rise and defend our resources from the “Cathedral of Thieves” who have over the years established their agents and perpetrators to suffocate innocent Malawians through corruption.
Kamangirah and Luwemba have also called upon the leadership of the country to make sure that office is protected and ensure that politicians stay away from interfering with the Office of the ACB in any way.
“We call upon Judiciary to execute justice as required; we call upon all Malawians to stand together in the fight against corruption; we are not renting this country. It is for us today and those generations to come. Let us defend our resources from heartless thieves. Let us defend our democracy,” they concluded.
The call comes barely a few days after State House issued statement warning staff members of wrongly using President Chakwera’s name soliciting funds, properties for personal interests. The move has not gone well with Malawians who are demanding names of those in the wrong using Chakwera’s name.
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