Bamusi challenges Malawi NGO’s on transparency and accountability

Presidential Advisor on Civil Society and NGO’s, Mavuto Bamusi has challenged nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to be more transparent and accountable within their institutions to ensure there is no element of corrupt practices.

Bamusi made the call in Blantyre during the Council for Non – Governmental Organisations in Malawi (CONGOMA) workshop for Southern Region Chapter.

He said that for a long time now, there has been silence on issues of corruption among NGO’s.

“We are sitting on a time bomb and if we do not intervene collectively, we will most likely witness an NGO accountability crisis,” Bamusi said.

He observed that there has been much talk about corruption in the public sector, private sector and many other places but little has come out on the same in the civil society.

“Corruption has something to do with integrity and the message we are giving to civil society leaders is for them to cultivate the culture of integrity, patriotism and responsible activism,” Bamusi said.

He, therefore, called on NGO’s to embrace the people centred development where they must collectively own challenges as well as being part of the collective solution to the challenges Malawians are facing.

“NGOs must cultivate the spirit of patriotism by making sure that if they are providing criticism to government, it must be constructive with evidence – not just politically motivated criticism,” Bamusi added.

Chairperson for the CONGOMA Steering Committee in the Southern Region, Gertrude Kabwazi admitted that corruption could not be entirely ruled out in NGOs.

She noted that it is imperative for NGOs, government and other stakeholders to use the resources received from development partners for the intended purpose.

“This is one of the things that we are trying to address by making sure that we are reminding each other of the responsibilities that we have over the people we serve.

“If examples people are giving from their experiences, we would not say that NGOs are sacred cows or holy institutions in terms of corruption because where there are people, corrupt practices are bound to happen,” Kabwazi said.

CONGOMA organised the workshop to strengthen collaboration among civil society organisations operating in the southern region to work together in various development programmes.

At least 80 NGOs from the southern region attended the workshop.

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