Written by Richard Kayenda
National Anti-Corruption Alliance, a consortium of civil society organizations such as Church and Society, Youth and Society (YAS) and Malawi Law Society (MLS), has called upon government to uphold transparency and accountability in the process of procurement of materials to be used in the fight against Covid 19.
In a press release signed by NACA’s Chairperson, Moses Mkandawire, the organised has urged the government to ensure that first priority is given to the promotion of health and safety of Malawians.
“As Malawi has confirmed positive cases of Covid 19, the National Anti Corruption Alliance (NACA) would like to urge the Malawi Government to ensure that first priority should be promoting the health and safety of our people. We urge the government to quickly come with a strategy to achieve this. Other countries that have reported similar cases have instituted lockdowns. We urge our government to institute pro-poor measures in dealing with this pandemic.
“In the same vein, we urge government to be transparent in how it is managing public resources. As an anti-corruption Alliance, we are aware that emergencies such as this one, while threatening lives, also provide opportunities for thieves in the government to steal more, particularly when oversight institutions are weak. We have learned from previous disasters that even in times of crisis, there are those who aim to profit from others’ misfortunes,” reads the statement in part.
NACA has further speculated that the First Lady, Gertrude Mutharika’s charity organization, BEAM Trust, is already on record to have dishonestly withdrawn K1 billion from the public coffers for the same Covid 19 Pandemic.
On that note, the anti corruption alliance has called upon the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to institute an immediate investigation into the alleged scam.
The Government of Malawi has earmarked about K15 billion for procument of personal protective equipment such as face masks, gloves hand sanitizers and many more to be used in the fight against Covid 19.
