Corruption in Malawi is worsening, says British High Commissioner

Malawi is perceived to have become significantly more corrupt under the leadership of President Peter Mutharika  and that there is diminishing fight against corrupt gangsters,out-going British High Commissioner Michael Nevin has  said.

Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which is responsible for tackling graft, had become toothless because ruling politicians were interfering with its director Lucas Kondowe where all corrupt gangsters in the corridors of power are being shielded.
In a newspaper interview, Nevin  who  leaves the country at the end of a four-year tour of duty, warned that rule of law could be permanently undermined by failure to arrest those who break the law.
According  to Weekend Nation,  Nevin noted with exasperation that he leaves office before the people behind the gruesome murder of Issa Njauju, former top official at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) still at large; warning that the failure to bring those responsible to book will haunt everyone including those in government today.
There  are fears Njauju was murdered by regime thugs hence  justice being defeated.
“The reason it is so important to back that case is because if people see that you can do that and intimidate (people) then Malawi is on a very dangerous road. It can lead to chaos and it undermine rule of law and that is why it is extremely important that those that are really behind this are brought to book,” Nevin is quoted by the paper.
“The cancer of corruption is the most dangerous element that can undermine Malawi’s instability; it undermines Malawi’s selling point as a stable nation. It does not matter that you are elite, it does not matter you are in a position of authority and you think okay, it cannot overcome you. It will come back to haunt you,” the outgoing British High Commissioner added.
Malawi government official spokesperson and Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati rejected  the perception that Malawi’s corruption is worsening.

Kaliati said the Mutharika government has  “a number of things” it is doing to  clean up the administration of  corruption .
A lecturer Joseph Chunga from Chancellor College,  a constituent college of the University of Malawi said corruption dents the image of the nation and citizens stand to lose out as witnessed in the recent Cashgate scandal, where donors pulled out their budgetary support to the country.
Chunga said where there is corruption, only a few people benefit at the expense of the rest of Malawians, which he said was a sad thing that cannot see the nation develop.