New Malawi government urged to blitz corruption

The Joint Civil Society Observer Mission has urged a new government to be formed after the fresh presidential elections to bolster the  fight against corruption amid the many scandals that have erupted involving public officials.

The grouping  which included Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), Women’s Legal Resources Centre (WOLREC), Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO), Church and Society of the CCAP Livingstonia Synod, Foundation for Children’s Rights (FCR), DCA Actalliance, and Active Youth for Social Enhancement (AYISE), said at a news conference that the new administration should  regard graft eradication as its top priority.

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) chairperson, Moses Kaiyatsa, said the in-coming government should show that it is taking measures to fight corruption to unlock donor aid and investments that have been withheld due to graft concerns.

“The issue of corruption should be the first thing to be reviewed. Government should be strict on people plundering public resources. It is now time these things should be checked,” Kayiyasa said.

He said: “ Government should also focus on recovering assets that were purchased by senior officials fraudulently.”

IIt is likely Lazarus  Chakwera, a former cleric who heads the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP), will form the new government.

Born in Lilongwe to subsistence farmers, the philosophy and theology graduate has pledged to fight corurption, among other reforms.