President Lazarus Chakwera says his administration will not tolerate corruption and will ensure that the Anti-Corruption Bureau has adequate funding.
The Malawi leader made the remarks in Lilongwe on Friday in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) under the theme “Restoring warmth to the heart of Africa”.
He noted that the success of Malawi’s economy going forward will be anchored on solid institutional foundation hence his administration will observe the rule of law in order to provide predictability of the political and economic environment.
“We will provide the necessary security to all residents, be they natural or corporate persons; we will empower institutions of economic governance to service the needs of investors and all manner of business people and the general populace; we will continuously carry out public sector reforms in order to reorient public officers’ approach to work when offering service to the public. We will demand accountability by all public service position-holders to get the maximum value from them,” said Chakwera.
He further said that as a demonstration of the commitment to ending corruption, the Tonse Alliance government is making the Anti-Corruption Bureau fully independent and resourced to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.
He added that he will also appear before this Session of Parliament three times to answer Members’ questions
On education, Chakwera said Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) which was removed during the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration will be re-introduced and he will make primary schools compulsory to ensure that every child goes to school and complete.
“As the world forges ahead into the future, we cannot afford to leave any child behind. I am aware that many of the children in our country have no good school near them to attend. For that reason, it is the policy of my Administration to ensure that all schools have modern classroom blocks, teaching and learning materials and, most importantly, qualified teachers,” he said.
He went on to say that his administration will train more special needs teachers.
On agriculture, Chakwera said his will make Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) fundamental and provide cheap farm inputs to small scale farmers in order to improve level of production.
