I won’t fear death in my corruption fight, says Malawi leader
President Joyce Banda has said she will keep on fighting the war against corruption in Malawi even though she will be receiving death threats from the corrupt fat cats.
The Malawi leader made the remarks in Blantyre on Friday during National Day of Prayers held at COMESA Hall to pray for the ills Malawi is facing including rampant corruption, high inflation and a currency devaluation that has halved the value of Malawians’ paychecks.
Banda said that she has come under several death threats since she started what she claimed as the war against corruption.
“They have been death threats since l started the war against corruption which forced the authorities to change my telephone number and tighten security,” she said.
She however vowed to crackdown on corruption even if she is death threatened.
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 President Banda said corruption started long time back and 2013 was the year when all corrupt acts were uncovered.
“Corruption started long time ago in Malawi, last year [2013] is when all corrupt act was known to the public and we arrested some of the suspect and some has already been taken to court,” said Banda.
President Banda said she wants a corruption court to speed up justice on graft cases as part of her drive to weed out the vice.
“This is time we should have corruption court which will be hearing cases of corruption in order to speed up justice,” she said calling for a new beginning for the nation.
Malawi is facing a massive government graft scandal called “Cashgate” that may have drained a third of national budget.
The National Prayers service was organised by Religious bodies of Malawi under the theme “God Heal Our land”.
