Ziliro blasts ‘culture of impunity’ in Malawi — Says corrupt officials must finally face punishment

Zililo Chibambo isn’t just another political commentator — he’s a former cabinet minister, veteran diplomat and one of the frontline soldiers who fought for Malawi’s return to multiparty democracy. And onTimes Exclusive, he delivered one of his most blistering interventions yet, tearing into the country’s corruption crisis with the same fearless conviction that made him a household name in the 1990s. Chibambo, long known as an uncompromising, outspoken democrat, warned that Malawi has become a place where corruption carries no fear, where officials caught looting public resources walk away untouched, and where the political class has allowed graft to become “normalised” — almost part of daily governance.

His message was blunt: “People involved in corrupt practices should be punished.” No excuses. No delays. No political shielding.

For a man who openly challenged corruption even while serving in Bakili Muluzi’s Cabinet, his words carried the weight of lived experience. Chibambo has never been afraid to confront power, and his latest remarks were a stinging indictment of a system he says has lost the courage to enforce accountability. He accused Malawi of nurturing a culture of impunity, where scandals erupt, dominate headlines, spark outrage — and then quietly fade as investigations stall, suspects vanish, or political pressure smothers the truth.

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The result, he said, is a country drowning in scandal fatigue, where citizens have grown weary of promises of justice that never materialise. Chibambo’s warning was stark: if corruption carries no consequences, it will continue unchecked. He argued that Malawi’s institutions — weakened by political interference, underfunding and inconsistent enforcement — have failed to deliver the deterrence needed to stop graft in its tracks.

Every unpunished scandal, he said, encourages the next.He didn’t spare the political elite either. Fighting corruption, he insisted, requires political courage — the kind that risks upsetting allies, dismantling patronage networks and allowing investigations to proceed without interference. Malawi’s leaders, he suggested, have too often chosen convenience over principle.

And he had a message for citizens too. If people “do not seem to fear corruption,” then Malawians themselves must demand better — more transparency, more scrutiny, more pressure on leaders who treat accountability as optional. Chibambo’s appearance on Times Exclusive was a moment of uncomfortable truth — a reminder from one of Malawi’s original democracy champions that the fight for integrity is far from over.

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