Malawi Police are Africa’s most corrupt

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Malawi Police

Malawi police officers are the most corrupt in Africa, according to a study conducted by Afrobarometer.

The research report which was released on Tuesday has singled out Malawi as having the most corrupt law enforcers on the continent.

In the report, the Pan-African research network revealed that the Malawian law enforcers have held to the record for the fourth year running now.

The report named ‘People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2016’ states that Malawi is one of the countries in which police officers receive bribes to “ignore crime”.

“You can pay off police officers to ignore any crime, however horrific and devastating it’s just a matter of price,” reads part of the report.

Ironically, in Malawi, the report says, two thirds of those that took part in the research believe that corruption has gone up for the year just ending because police officers take a role in it.

Malawi Police
Police officers in Malawi named the most corrupt in Africa.

The study reveals that 9% of the respondents in Malawi blamed government for being slow to fight corruption with 64% believing that it is the citizenry’s role to redress the situation.

Malawians involved also were part of the 35% of respondents on the continent who openly said they would not report corruption to necessary officials because they fear of landing themselves in trouble.

The survey, which was conducted in 36 countries from March 2014- September 2015, according to a published report by the African Independent, involved up to 43,143 respondents who all gave out their experiences and perceptions of corruption in their respective nations.

The survey had gone ahead to state the frequency of bribery cases in six key public services including schools, hospitals and police services as well as the quest by the people to end corruption.

In the report, Afrobarometer said: ‘’Public services are burdened by having to pay multiple bribes every year, rather than just once or twice.’’ The report therefore mentioned schools, police stations and hospitals as institutions where people pay bribes for the services they seek.

Recently, in a report that Malawi24 carried, our reporter Happy Arnold Soko found out that police officers receive up to MK120,000 to withhold a case before it is taken to court.

The story also revealed that police officers in the country are pocketing up to MK120,000 a month from suspects who are forced to pay for what is supposed to be free police bail.

When contacted by Malawi24 for a comment last week, National Police Spokesperson, Nicholas Gondwa, pointed out that police bail is free and no suspect is supposed to pay.

“No any police top authorities condone such behaviours, the Inspector General himself is against this. If police are demanding money from suspects to be given bail it’s very unfortunate and that’s total corruption,” said Gondwa.