If Malawi laws do not forbid Politicians running for office from accepting corrupt payments or things of high values such as expensive cars like a Hummer then that law needs to be enacted to apply to current office holders including MPs, Senior Government officials, Judges and all in the executive branch.
The revelation that the current Malawi President accepted two cars as a gift while he was actively seeking the office of president should frighten us all.
His disclosures are not enough. We need the names of the benefactors so that we can know who he is beholden to. If this is not corruption, I am not sure what corruption is.
In the US Federal laws have long prohibited corrupt payments or things of value to federal officials, such as payments in the form of “bribes” from favor-seekers in the private sector.
The ethical issues and problems of “gifts” to public officials may arise because of the tacit or subtle influence or feelings of gratitude and appreciation that a public official may feel towards his or her benefactors that might “sway his decisions” and erode the official’s “sense of mission to the public” in favor of loyalty to “his private benefactors and patrons.
President Lazarus Chakwera should reveal his Benefactors so that that we Malawians can have confidence in any decisions that he makes which might have a direct or indirect effect on those benefactors.
Elwin Mandowa is the Founder and Managing Editor of The Maravi Post