SALIMA-(MaraviPost)-In an effort to reduce fraud and corruption in the country’s local councils, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has launched an integrity program that aims at empowering council integrity committees in handling corruption issues.
Presiding over the launch on Monday in Salima, Principal Secretary for Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Kiswell Dakamau said the program will help to safeguard the council’s finances and other resources.
“The program we have launched today is very critical as you are all aware of the National Decentralization Program. This has increased the amount of resources going to the councils and it is likely it will make the officers more prone to corruption,” said Dakamau.
He added that authorities that have been picked to be in the integrity committees should make sure all the resources that come to sectors of the council are well utilized and used for their intended purpose.
Speaking in an interview, ACB Acting Director General, Reyneck Matemba highlighted that district councils have a crucial role to play in ending corruption and that there was need to provide them with all the necessary support.
“Councils receive a lot of financial support and resources that make them venture into corruption when they don’t have the required integrity in safeguarding the resources.
“So, this will help us to work together in eradicating corruption as well as help the councils to know how they can report corruption cases to the bureau,” he said.
In her remarks, District Commissioner for Ntchisi, Malango Botomani said the training would help the council to be empowered in issues regarding corruption.
“Currently, the challenge we have been facing is that as councils we were not being incorporated in implementation of corruption programs,
