Malawi’s anti-graft body, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), has urged the public to refrain from pressurizing the body on some corruption cases, claiming most of such cases need a lot of time for investigations.
This is according to Principal Public Relations officer for ACB Egrita Ndala who made the call on Friday, February 26 in Mulanje at a day long corruption reporting training with journalists who are members of Blantyre Press Club.
Ndala said it is sad that the bureau is always receiving pressure from the public regarding finishing investigations of some corruption cases a development which she said negatively affect bureau.
She then said the public should note that investigations always take time and said such pressure from the public brings panic on officers who are working on such cases a thing which she said might jeopardize the bureau’s duties.
Ndala further urged members of media to help the bureau in sensitizing the public on how ACB carries out their investigations with an aim to let the public appreciate how the investigation process looks like.
“When we are conducting our investigations there is always public interest out there and sometimes we see even the media asking about such investigations and I was explaining why we do not give a lot of information with regard to such matter because we fear that it may jeopardize our investigations and that in the end will exert a kind of influence on the bureau officers that are working on the case.
“We would like to urge the media to help us sensitize members of public how our investigations work and what can help the investigation process and what can even disrupt the investigation process at the end of the day hence this training,” said Ndala.
Ndala said Journalists are crucial in changing people’s mindset, and educating the public on corruption prevention and has further urged journalists to report more on corruption prevention as a way of protecting national resources.
Reacting to the development, Blantyre Press Club president Blessings Kanache said the training was an eye opener to most of the upcoming Journalists who have always concentrated their reporting on arrests and prosecution of suspected offenders.
Kanache has since urged all journalists in the country to help the government and ACB in particular in combating corruption by reminding citizens on the roles they should play through radio and television programs and news.
