Nevin says Malawi on dangerous path
The out-going British High Commissioner Michael Nevin has painted a bleak outlook for the country’s fight against corruption and warned that rule of law could be permanently undermined by failure to arrest those who break the law.
Nevin was speaking in an exclusive interview as he leaves the country at the end of a four-year tour of duty.
He became the first High Commissioner dispatched by London following a frosty period in ties between the two countries after his predecessor Fergus Cochraine-Dyet was expelled from the country by the former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s administration over a leaked diplomatic cable that strongly criticised his administration.
Nevin gave a candid assessment of the fight against corruption and noted with exasperation that he leaves office before the people behind the gruesome murder of Issa Njauju, former top official at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) still at large; warning that the failure to bring those responsible to book will haunt everyone including those in government today.
“The reason it is so important to back that case is because if people see that you can do that and intimidate (people) then Malawi is on a very dangerous road. It can lead to chaos and it undermine rule of law and that is why it is extremely important that those that are really behind this are brought to book.
“The cancer of corruption is the most dangerous element that can undermine Malawi’s instability; it undermines Malawi’s selling point as a stable nation. It does not matter that you are elite, it does not matter you are in a position of authority and you think okay, it cannot overcome you. It will come back to haunt you,” said Nevin.
However, government official spokesperson and Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati yesterday described Nevin’s remarks as unfair description of the situation in the country as they fell short of recognising the efforts of the current administration in fighting corruption.
Said Kaliati: “There are a number of things government is doing to fight corruption and it’s a general responsibility of every Malawian and not just government to fight corruption. We are grateful for the support the UK is giving us in the fight against corruption but they should also recognsie that the President has on numerous occasions outlined his commitment to fight corruption.” n
Your Excellency Nevin you have seen with your own eyes how Malawi has become an embarrassment to Her Majesty’s Commonwealth. You have the first hand account of how Malawi has brought shame to English speaking countries. It’s like we were not under the British. Because of savage corruption the country cannot fund it’s public education resulting in its citizens living as if they were still in the Victorian era.
Existence of absurd cultures like hyenas and very primitive superstitions of albino killings is a demonstration of how low the nation has sunk under Mutharika’s corrupt authority.
Please use your authority to ask Western companies that buy tobacco to stop buying Malawi leaf to force him to expel and prosecute the named corrupt ministers in his government. I would further ask you to urge the British government to expel Malawi from the Commonwealth and impose travel ban to the UK and Western countries for all cabinet ministers named in the corrupt report until these issues are resolved.
We can not go on smiling corruption in the face when a girl child in Nsanje is being preyed upon by a hyena-man, due to lack of education, resulting from public funds being stolen by a cabinet minister.