Malawi can stop the plunder

The recent arrests by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) over the alleged plunder of billions of kwachas at the Greenbelt Authority should shock the nation out of complacency. The media reports that between K36 billion and K39 billion may have been siphoned through fake contracts, inflated payments and phantom works. The scale of the alleged theft rivals the infamous Cashgate of 2013.

What is even more troubling is that similar allegations of abuse and mismanagement have surfaced at the National Oil Company, National Economic Empowerment Fund, State House, the Malawi Communications Authority and other public institutions. This points not to rogue individuals alone, but to a systemic failure in the governance of State-owned enterprises (SOEs). Malawi is bleeding through institutions created to drive development.

The Greenbelt reveals a familiar pattern: Advance payments approved without safeguards, weak oversight of contracts and little verification of whether work was actually done. This is not sophisticated corruption, but basic looting made possible by broken systems. To stop it, government must begin where the theft occurs — procurement and payments.

[paywall]

All SOEs contracts must be publicly advertised, competitively awarded and published for public scrutiny. Payments should be tied strictly to verified milestones and integrated financial management systems must be used consistently, not selectively, to ensure every kwacha is traceable. Cashgate taught Malawi what happens when financial controls collapse.

More than 20 yers later, it is alarming that the same weaknesses persist. Equally disturbing is the apparent lack of coordination among state oversight institutions. The Auditor General, internal auditors, controlling officers, boards of directors and Parliament all exist to prevent abuse, yet they either fail to act or act too late. The ACB appears to be the only agency actively pursuing wrongdoing despite falling public confidence.

[/paywall]