Africa-Press – Malawi. Fifty eight years after independence, Malawi is still grappling with rampant corruption. Have we wondered why we have changed regimes a number of times, but corruption is still soaring? Here is another million dollar question that remains lingering: where and when did we go astray? Is there any light at the end of the tunnel to circumvent such incidences of corruption?
In this discourse, pestle approach is being proposed to endevour answering such questions. In fact, pestle is an acronym which stands for political, economic, social, technological, legal and environment. In other words, it is believed that corruption can be cracked down from the aforementioned facets.
Firstly, politics has played a major role in accelerating corruption in Malawi. For instance, politicians corrupt the electorate by giving them money and other handouts during campaign period in exchange for votes. Financers sponsor politicians in anticipation for political positions or contractual favours from the impending government. Obviously, this is a recipe for corruption. The remedy to this is that our leaders must exude a strong political will to progressively stamp out corruption. Malawi needs politicians of higher integrity, the likes of former president of Tanzania, Dr. John Magufuli.
Secondly, it is a proven vicious circle that corruption promotes poverty while the same corruption concurrently breeds poverty. Money lost to corruption, for instance, could have been better spent to uplift the welfare of the citizenry. A hungry and low paid employee, on the other hand, is more likely to get involved in corruption. In fact, greed for more wealth has become a necessary catalyst for corruption. We therefore need stringent and prudent financial systems that hold officers accountable for every transaction.
Thirdly, social and cultural values attached to the citizenry are of paramount importance. We have reached a point in Malawi where corrupt practices are taken as the standard measure of progress. We have thrown away integrity to the dogs in preference to corrupt accumulation of wealth. Those with corrupt goods and wealth are more laudable by the society than poor people who subscribe to high integrity. We need to prioritise integrity as the primary criterion in choosing our leaders. Mind set change is essential.
Fourthly, much as technological advancement is permeating in all public sectors, such proliferation of technology has made corrupt transactions much easier. A syndicate of corrupt officers, for instance, can easily collaborate using technology. No wonder cybercrime is on the rise. For instance, the Integrated Management Information System (IFMIS) at the Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance has been compromised by the very same officers who were entrusted to man the system. Fortunately, enhancing security measures in all digital solutions can be a panacea to circumvent such adversities.
Fifthly, our porous and biased legal system leaves a lot to be desired in combating corruption. It is pathetic that the justice system has become the source of injustice. The adjudicator of corruption cases has backslidden to become the proud perpetrator of corrupt practices. In other words, the much envied valuable salt has lost its saltiness. The light has turned itself into darkness. It is unfathomable how the court can cushion a corruption suspect from being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). We need a complete overhaul of the legal system. New laws need to be enacted to specifically crack down corruption. One such law will enable the ACB to be fully independent of any interference from either the Executive or Judiciary arm of government.
Lastly but not least, we need to create a conducive environment to track down any corrupt practice and transaction. Such environment can only be created by a deliberate collaborative effort from various key stakeholders including politicians, economists, sociologists, technologists, legal experts and electorates among others. It is therefore everyone’s responsibility to report any corrupt practices to the ACB. We also need the legal and regulatory framework that can protect whistleblowers.
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