Banda’s valiant stand against graft in Malawi

  Banda, who took office in 2012, has taken the bull by the horns by committing herself and the power of her office to fighting corruption in the country and bringing whoever is involved to book. She has even ordered the prosecution of corruption cases, stalled under previous governments, be restarted immediately. In the new […]

  Banda, who took office in 2012, has taken the bull by the horns by committing herself and the power of her office to fighting corruption in the country and bringing whoever is involved to book. She has even ordered the prosecution of corruption cases, stalled under previous governments, be restarted immediately.
In the new and epoch-making crusade against graft, punishment for those found to be involved has been certain and swift. Nine police officers were sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for their role in fraud committed in September 2013. Nor are big names and top government officials and political appointees being spared.  The announcement of the sack of the Malawian Minister of Finance, Ken Lupenga, was made as he leaded a delegation to attend meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington. According to one estimate, about 30 percent of Malawi’s budget is stolen by civil servants in collusion with political heads. Missing government funds is often blamed for delays in payment of public sector workers’ salaries.
The so-called Cashgate scandal broke following the shooting of a budget director, Paul Mphwiyo, in September 2013.  Mrs Banda then sacked her entire cabinet of 25 ministers.  The former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Raphael Kasambara, implicated in Mphwiyo’s shooting, has been charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder.
One of Africa’s poorest countries, Malawi depends much on foreign aid; 40 percent of the national budget is foreign- funded, leaving it dangerously exposed to the dictates of foreign donors.
Returning the country to the favour of donor countries and international financial framework, following the frosty relationship under her predecessor, Mrs Banda wasted no time by adopting austerity measures, selling off the presidential aircraft and auctioning government limousines to procure cheaper models to stem the spiralling cost of governance.
Her tough-and uncommon- stance on corruption has resonated in other African countries, perhaps nowhere more so than in Nigeria where the authorities have become notorious for condoning corruption, in body language and in fact. Successive governments in Nigeria have often indulged in the broken-record nuisance of making the right noise of tackling corruption only to become its facilitators, and the country has be the worse for it. Many nongovernmental organisations, foreign and domestic, Western governments, including the United States, conclude that corruption got worse in recent years, citing the current administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.  Government officials, including cabinet-level appointees, use their political muscle to indulge in the practice, and to evade accountability. This pervasive culture of impunity is stifling development and undermining public confidence in government.
Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is the equivalent of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), but is far more independent, and it exercises it without fear of political interference because Mrs Banda has assured the country that not even members of her family should be considered untouchable in the fight against corruption. In a recent review of Malawi’s Corrupt Practices Act, recommendations were made to ensure that this independence is total and it would not be beholden to the executive arm of government. This is in sharp contrast to the EFCC, which is held in suspicion because much of its activities appear to come to light only when they are directed at opponents of the reigning administration.
Fighting corruption-and facing down the cabal that sustains it-would be a tough call for Mrs Banda. With elections due in May, those who feed on corruption will certainly fight back. She should not waver, or take to the failed Nigerian path of reaching some accommodation with the perpetrators of corruption and impunity in the name of soft-landings and plea bargains.
Banda’s message is that corruption can be battled and defeated; for other African leaders, particularly President Jonathan, who mouth platitudes about fighting graft, here’s a template from Malawi.