Corruption fight needs concerted effortsBingu

Mutharika said this at Comesa Hall in Blantyre during this year's
Anti-Corruption Day celebrations where he also launched the National
Anti Corruption Strategy, which was developed to provide a holistic
approach to fight corruption in the country.

The National Anti Corruption Strategy is a follow up to the
Declaration on Zero Tolerance on Corruption we signed two years ago.

This strategy signifies an important step that our government has
taken towards good governance because, for the first time, our country
has a mechanism to combat corruption at the national level in keeping
with the governance and Corruption Baseline Report findings on
corruption in Malawi, he said.

Mutharika also urged all sectors to start implementing the strategy to prevent corruption in the workplace.

The Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC)—comprising people who signed the
declaration on Zero Tolerance on corruption—chairperson Matthews
Chikaonda said the strategy represents views of all Malawians as it was
developed after extensive consultations.

One of the key things in it is the issue of the service charter where
offices such as water boards, Immigration…e known the services they
provide, what is required and how long they take to execute so that
there is no room for fraudulent demands from the staff, said Chikaonda.

ACB director Alexius Nampota, who presented Mutharika with a medal of
recognition based on the significant contribution he has made in the
corruption fight, commended the public for its increased participation
in the fight against corruption.

From January to December last year, we completed 409 against the set
target of 360. The improved service was due, in part to the filling in
of vacant positions and an increase in funding from both government and
donors.

However, investigation and prosecution of high profile cases was
slowed down by the accused's tendency to obtain injunctions, stopping
either investigation or prosecution and then just sitting idle thus
forcing the case in dormancy and keeping the ACB hanging, said Nampota.