MHRRC attributes rural poverty to corruption

Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC) has linked worsening poverty among rural communities in the country to poverty.

MHRRC acting executive director Emma Kaliya expressed the sentiments on Wednesday during a meeting at Wenya in the area of Chief Mwenewenya in Chitipa District.

The centre organised the meeting to provide a forum to community members to provide feedback on the services and their standards   key government sectors of education, agriculture, water, forest and environment and health pledged to provide following a service charter the two sides have agreed on.

Kaliya observed that theft and widespread corruption, especially during implementation of donor and government sponsored development projects, interfere with successful execution of the projects which intend to alleviate poverty in rural communities.

Under the Enhancing Citizen Voice and Action in Local Governance and Development Process project funded by Dan Church Aid (DCA), MHRRC recently facilitated the signing of a service charter between the five sectors, as duty bearers and community members who are service users, a social compact agreement which is  potential to ensure that target community beneficiaries always have access to consistent and quality services designed to promote their wellbeing.

Chitipa District Council director of planning and development Tamanya Harawa has since ordered NGOs and civil society organisations implementing projects in the district to take submit project plans to his office and update the same through periodic progress reports in an apparent bid to check corruption. n