Malawi rejects corruption rebuke by Transparency International
Malawi government has rejected the corruption allegations by the Transparency International that that abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to worsen in the southern African nation
A report released by the Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International said Malawi is one of the most corrupt state in the world and that in its Corruption Perceptions Index 2013, the country has tumbled from position 88 out of 177 countries last year to position 91 this year.
Malawi is on position 91 with the index’s score of 37, which is an indication that it is one of the corrupt countries.
But Minister of Information who is also government spokesman Brown Mpinganjira attacked the CPI’s reliance on the opinions of a small group of experts, saying the high-profile and widely reported index has is failing to reflecting on the efforts government is putting in the fight against corruption.
Transparency International trumpets the CPI as “the most widely used indicator of corruption worldwide.”
The global watchdog argues that capturing experts’ perceptions is the most reliable method of comparing relative corruption levels across countries.
“Corruption generally comprises illegal activities, which are deliberately hidden and only come to light through scandals, investigations or prosecutions,” says watchdog.
“There is no meaningful way to assess absolute levels of corruption in countries or territories on the basis of hard empirical data. Possible attempts to do so, such as by comparing bribes reported, the number of prosecutions brought or studying court cases directly linked to corruption, cannot be taken as definitive indicators of corruption levels. Instead, they show how effective prosecutors, the courts or the media are in investigating and exposing corruption.”
Malawi is facing a massive government graft scandal called “Cashgate” that may have drained a third of national budget.
