Malawi Immigration Dept, Road Traffic top corruption list – ACB

An Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) integrity survey has revealed that corruption  in exchange of services.is high at Immigration and Citizenship Services (ICS) as well as Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS).

ACB director general Reyneck Matemba said the percentage of people who felt corruption was still high in the two institutions as well as their levels of integrity ranged from 54 to 67 percent.

Matemba said this  when he launched the survey results in Blantyre on Friday.

The pilot assessment study, targeting ICS and DRTSS, was designed to measure integrity levels at the two public institutions based on responses of employees and the clientele.

The country’s anti-corruption czar said the results of the  survey and the percentages are not encouraging to the two institutions.

“For your information, we interviewed both employees of the two institutions as well as the clients they serve and the results show that 54 to67 percent of the people feel that cases of corruption are still high at the two institutions as well as levels of integrity,” said Matemba to journalists.

“But the results should not frustrate you,” he said, arguing that the results serve to encourage ICS and DRTSS to initiate efforts to prevent corruption and promote citizens’ rights in a transparent manner.

ACB implemented the pilot integrity survey with technical support from National Statistical Office (NSO) and funding from government. Additional funding came from the Department for International Development (DfID) through International Centre for Asset Recovery (Icar).

According to a summary of the results, the study found that 61 percent of DRTSS service providers sensed that officials take bribes while 44.4 percent of users agreed that bribes are paid out.

The study also found that 75.7 percent of service users agreed that a bribe is paid out to officials for a service with 38.2 percent of ICS service providers also agreeing that bribery was demanded for a service to be done.

“It is very alarming that the study has shown that majority of service providers at DRTSS perceive that some officials take bribes,” reads part of the summary of the results dated June 2019.

In terms of actual level of corruption as experienced by both service users and providers, the survey established that both ICS and DRTSS service providers and users accepted to have asked or offered a bribe.

“These bribes were often asked for or offered at the beginning of work or service [70.6 percent for DRTSS providers and 85.7 percent for ICS providers].

“The main reason for paying or asking for a bribe at DRTSS was to facilitate or speed up the processes of the service [100 percent for DRTSS providers and 86.7 percent for users],” reads the report.

Matemba said despite the survey outcome he was pleased with the two institutions leadership for putting in place measures to address the issues.