Some civil society groups in the country have launched a National Anti-corruption Alliance (Naca) aimed at mobilising and coordinating civil society activities in combating corruption.
The founding members of the alliance include Youth and Society (YAS), Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Malawi Law Society (MLS) and Church and Society of the Livingstonia Synod.
In an interview after the launch in Dowa yesterday, executive director of YAS Charles Kajoloweka said the motive for forming the alliance is to deal with growing corruption and impunity in the country since there is no active civil movement on anti-corruption.
Said Kajoloweka: “We hope the alliance will strengthen civil society capacity and response to combating organised corruption in Malawi.”
Malawi scored 32 points out of 100 on the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Index in Malawi averaged 32.33 Points from 1998 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 41 Points in 1999 and a record low of 27 Points in 2006.
According to the Youth and Society executive director, at an appropriate time, the founding members will be accepting other CSO actors who express interest and meet the requirements to join the alliance.
Kajoloweka also pointed out that already there are several suspected corruption cases that the alliance is following up.
In an interview, social and governance commentator Makhumbo Munthali welcomed the initiative, saying corruption in the country has reached embarrassing levels.
“There is need to have a more focused attention to corruption related issues,” he said.
But Munthali stressed that it would be important that the alliance have clear terms of reference for sustainability purposes.
He also pointed out on the need for the founding members to spell out the uniqueness of the alliance considering that other CSOs in the past also pursued a similar initiative. n
