UK urges Malawi to walk the reforms talk
The United Kingdom (UK) has asked the Malawi government to be serious on its Public Sector Reforms Programme by making it practical and desisting from rhetoric.
British High Commissioner Michael Nevin, speaking during the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday in Lilongwe on Monday evening, said there is need for a “reform movement that can be seen and felt not just hear about, the one that is concerned with the outcome not just the process”.
Said the diplomat: “Reformists ensure the country is ready for the game changing advantages of the Nacala Corridor; overcoming bureaucratic inertia and vested interests. It is worrying that the [Nacala Corridor] railway is finished, but Malawi does not have anything yet to take advantage of it.
“Through joined-up, focused action, Malawi could progress up anti-corruption and fraud league tables and yet the updated anti-money laundering legislation still languishes in the system.”
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe, who was the guest of honour at the function, said the other side of reforms looks at the financial side where, among others, there is reformation that would avoid a repeat of corruption and fraud cases such as Cashgate—the plunder of public resources exposed at Capital Hill in 2013.
He also said government is engaging different people in the country to make the reforms a success in which case there is also a requirement for change of attitude towards governance on the part of Malawians.
But Nevin observed that government’s steps to embark on the reform process are not new.
Upon assuming power through victory in the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections, President Peter Mutharika embarked on a Public Service Reforms Programme chaired by Vice-President Saulos Chilima to improve service delivery and productivity in the public sector, among other goals.
