Africa-Press – Malawi. Why the fight against corruption a sprawling battle? Corruption in its basic sense is any act of influencing a decision or an action based on one’s powers, belongings or capabilities to favor a particular party over the over.
This is however done on the expense of others by either marginalizing, exploiting or oppressing them hence it is considered a vice which is worthy fighting as it operates against rules of natural justice although the fight against it is meeting too copious resistance.
The presence of corruption fighting agencies in Malawi like the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) which works in coordination with the Malawi Police Service, the Judiciary and the Malawi Prison Services signifies the commitment of the government towards eradicating the said vice in Malawi. A profound question one must ask is that are we achieving what we, as a nation intends to in as far as eradication of corruption is concerned?
Although some may say yes, they don’t boldly say it even if we are to interview the Anti-Corruption Bureau there will be a no or yes not in bold since as a nation we are still locked into corruption at any level of operation. But why is it that we are stuck into the vice despite knowing how evils it is?
As a nation we are good at condemning and castigating corruption of highest order, corruption of public figures while silently legalizing corruption done at community level which makes our people in our respective communities to rely upon it for survival.
Another great challenge is that when it favors religious people they call it grace, who can fight grace? When it favors ordinary people they call it connections, who does not won’t to be connected? When it favors politicians they call it rewarding loyalist and patriots, who does not won’t to be rewarded?
This line of thinking is frustrating the fight against the vice as everyone has his/her own reason or excuse for indulging into corruption although they know that its bad and our societies are somehow institutionalizing this as many of the successful people in our societies are progressing through this and we the ordinary people know this.
In this context, it is hard for some of these people who make ends meet through corrupt practices to join or support the fight against what brings bread on their table.
You may think of how rooted is corruption in Malawi, imagine, to have a good meal at the funeral, wedding ceremony, you name it, you need to be connected, you must have corrupted someone`s mind before.
Imagine, at the hospital, a patient being told to buy drugs yet some are accessing them right there just because they are connected. Dejectedly, our corruption fighting agents are targeting the top officials and its where all our eyes as a nation are placed.
We may mention cashgate or any ‘gate’ which involved high ranking officials, but do we really think on what happens in other small scale organizations, community based projects, selecting of beneficiaries in AIP, public university campus accommodation, match fixing among others where corruption though at a small scale is so rampant but has been institutionalized that it is no longer a vice but a way of living.
If we may think of how rooted corruption is and where we invest our energies in as far as corruption is concerned, we may realise that it’s hard to uproot it in Malawi. Ever wondered why many of these corruption fighting agencies deals much with opposition side of government yet corruption favors the ruling in most cases? Ever wondered why the rich win many cases in court than the poor? If corruption is being practiced by those pioneering justice, who will we fight it?
As it has been institutionalized that money is an answer to every problem, deeply we have also institutionalized that justice is for the rich, corruption is not bad if you have money to pay. Imagine looking for connection or corruption to get magnesium at a health centre, looking for connection to get your national ID, passport, water and electricity connection faster. What are we instilling in ourselves and the nation at large? Connection mpaka kuti udye nsima kumaliro, kuti ugayitse nsanga kuchigayo or kutunga madzi pa mjigo?
This at least explains how rooted corruption is in Malawi and how corrupted our minds are which needs mind-set change first then the battle against corruption later. This is the case since many spheres of life have been engulfed by corruption yet our corruption fighting agencies focus much on who their masters wants to be dealt with.
You may recall how COVID-19 funds were once corruptly dinned, reports of theft at Chingeni Toll plaza, missing medical equipment at Central Medical stores and the cases vanishes into the air. Are we not legalizing corruption here? Will Malawi one day win this battle?
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