Alliance wants ACB detached from Executive arm of govt
The National Alliance against Corruption has called for the removal of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) from the ambit of the Executive arm of government to ensure it discharges its mandate with complete independence, effectiveness and efficiency.
Briefing journalists after meeting the ACB director general Reyneck Matemba in Lilongwe on Monday, the alliance’s executive member, Charles Kajoloweka, observed that the work of Bureau has generally been compromised due to the political influence from the President who heads the Executive.
Kajoloweka therefore proposed that members of Parliament (MPs) and other relevant authorities to take steps that will help in giving ACB full autonomy.
“We also want the mandate of ACB to be restricted to crime detection and investigation while other agencies should be handling prosecution. That’s the practice in other countries. We can’t burden ACB with all those tasks yet it is under-resourced to discharge its duties,” he said.
Kajoloweka further stated that the alliance has resolved to collaborate with ACB in a campaign aimed to recover public resources from people that looted from the government during the previous administration.
“We need our resources back as a people of Malawi. We need those resources to be redirected to the improvement of the public service delivery,” he said.
However, Kajoloweka admitted that this would require that relevant legislation should be put in place to facilitate recovery of the stolen property.
The alliance’s chairperson, Moses Mkandawire, said the current setup where ACB has to seek approval from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is another legal impediment to the work of the Bureau.
Mkandawire disclosed that they will soon be engaging relevant institutions, including the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, to facilitate amendment of the laws to allow for the detachment of ACB from other government structures in its work.
“The proposal that is coming through is that the government should establish a separate National Prosecution Authority and leave ACB do the other tasks. All in all, during their meeting with Mr. Matemba, we have agreed to closely work together in the fight against graft. We have also agreed to formalize our working relationship,” he said.
Ask acb employees on this, we need prosecution in malawi not what matemba is saying. This guy has destroyed acb completely because of his incompetence. He is the one who has to go and let employees work
This is a stupid proposition by intellectually lazy people. Proposing to move the ACB from the executive branch doesn’t solve the problem but rather just shifts accountability from one person to another namely from The President to the ACB Director. I would rather have an elected official who was elected by the people than have some randomly appointed person with no mandate from the people to run the show. The President for all intents and purposes is the one given the power as the appointing authority. The reforms needed should be more on oversight of the ACB (and other executive… Read more »
To enhance independence of the ACB, there is need to change the appointing authority from the presidency which is as per the current legislation. There is need to give ACB more autonomy and revisit their reporting lines inorder to make it very very effective.
It’s not about ACB independence, but whole corporate governance independence. This includes National Audit Office, Central internal Audit, financial intelligent unit. Because most of these monitor budgets. E.g. the National Audit found mk92 bn cash gate and we’re chased during Bingu time. Only to increase to be mk 500 billion.
Kajoloweka how many Ngos do you own? That’s is also corruption to own several Ngos and speak as if they are new ngo when it is just old kajoloweka with supreme court bill to pay for baseless allegations.
We the executive cannot relinquish our control over acb, if we let it go then dpp guys won’t be arrested. Acb is good tool for dealing with the opposition.
Too early
ACB is funded by the Government, and you,who is going to fund you? Or you want to be ACB b? Zinazi tazipatsani anthu amene ali kale mkatimo,osamangoti izi mwalowa zijaso mukuzidikila kuti mulowe monso, mmene mwanenela kuti mukufuna ACB ikhale yoima payokha, muchita ngati kuti ndinu amene mukuzibweletsa pamene the President Dr Chakwera anazilankhula kale in 2013 atangoyamba ndale kumene! And mwaona kuti he is doing it, inu mitu biiiii ngati kuti mwapanga ndinu! Kodi mulibe zina zochita pansi pano? Ntchito ikhale koma! koma! koma!koma koma!kumeneko! kumeneko! kumeneko! Basi? Inutu inu inuuuu! Tonse Alliance akuphwetsa anthu onse akuba, tawasiyani kaye… Read more »
Boss, Akati kuima payokha sindekuti Boma silidzipanga support ndi ndalama. The govt has 3 arms, executive, parliament n judiciary. All of them r financially supported by govt as they r all govt but their decisions ought to be made with no influence from another for the save of effective governance amongst other things. The proposal at hand is to remove ACB from executive n put t under i.e judiciary as it can not efficiently investigate cases in the executive arm. Be mindful that the majority of looting n corruption happens in the executive arm. I hope this is clear. I… Read more »
Another lazy argument!
You are saying yourself that the government has three arms each of which has a leader. Why in the world do you want ACB to be an Orphan organization?
Read up on the History of the FBI, CIA, and the KGB to understand what happens when such organizations go rogue. What is happening at the ACB now is chicken feed.
Good intentions but lacking in rigorous analytical aptitude.
Makes absolute sense. Even now there are names that were involved in corruption but are not being mentioned because there are in the current govt. We need to get past this hurdle and arrest people from both past and current governments, then indeed Malawi will be free. Otherwise the rest is just hoodwinking people.
There is a general lack of professionalism and incompetence at ACB. The blame on political interference is simply a lame excuse. If one is failing to do one’s job due to political interference; why not resign in protest? The K1.7 billion case has taken more than a decade. So many cashgate files un completed. The presidential jet. The maize gate case. And so many smaller cases unfinished by ACB. So many people have sent complaints to ACB; nothing happens. Zero. Just talking. Simply put the work is above the competence of the current ACB leadership and team. Let them go.… Read more »
Thanks, that’s the best way to go