Community leaders say Malawi Agenda 2063 unattainable if corruption persists

According to certain traditional and block leaders from various areas of Lilongwe’s Area 25, if the nation’s widespread corruption persists, citizens should give up on achieving Canaan through the Malawi 2063 plan.

This was said at an awareness-raising event organized by the NICE Trust to introduce Malawi 2063 Agenda and its anti-corruption enablers to local community leaders on Tuesday.

Malawi 2063 was created and introduced in 2021 with the goal of coordinating development initiatives that will enable the nation to become a prosperous, independent, industrialized “upper-middle-income country” by 2063.

The Malawi 2063’s some enablers are mindset change and effective governance systems and institutions that deal with corruption.

Participant Isaac Moyo from Sector 2 of Area 25C made the observation that if corruption and wrongdoing among high-ranking officials and communities don’t stop, the nation won’t be able to accomplish the Malawi 2063 plan.

Moyo charged that insufficient efforts were being made by the government and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to suppress immorality and guarantee the seamless execution and facilitation of various projects.

“There are many conflicts at the grassroots level in addition to corruption,” he added, that occasionally even block leaders and their followers engage in wrongdoing. It irritates me that other black leaders, for instance, don’t think their time is over and they bribe others to keep up their position as community leaders.”

Furthermore, Amos Chibwana, the block leader for Sector 2, Area 25C, said that some individuals bribe the officials in charge of the local government to postpone future elections or redraw block boundaries.

“We bring up our concerns with the ward council member so they can investigate further with the appropriate law enforcement agencies and the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Even the situation that we previously informed you about demarcating the sectors was reported, and police and the city council decided that they couldn’t deregulate the area part at this time until after the 2025 elections, ” Chibwana continued.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) Sara Nanthoka said that the reason so many people should be aware of corruption in the country is due to cruel circumstances of the malpractice that derails development.

Nanthoka gave advice: “You have a responsibility to deal with the vice as citizens in order to guarantee that society is free from corruption. If anything happens, we should be able to monitor it and notify ACB via various platforms including writing or visit its offices.”

Hajira Ali, the Lilongwe Urban Programmes Officer for NICE Trust, clarified that the purpose of interface meetings with community leaders is to inspire individuals to take ownership of the Malawi 2063 vision, to strengthen the sense of patriotism and diligence, and to actively participate in realizing the vision.

“The communities were given a chance to ask questions and interact with service providers like the police and ACB, where people claimed corruption was still taking place in different sections of the country,” she said.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :