Malawi Police is most corrupt institution — Afrobarometer report

A new Afrobarometer report indicates that Malawi Police is the most corrupt institution, followed closely by Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).

Malawians who participated in the study conducted by Afrobarometer in conjunction with University of Malawi’s Centre for Social Research mentioned Police, MRA, business executives, OPC, civil servants, Members of Parliament, traditional leaders, councillors, religious groups and non-governmental organisations as corrupt institutions.

Malawi Police has since released a statement saying it is fighting corruption within its ranks.

Deputy Police Spokesperson Harry Namwaza noted that in the recent survey 42 percent mentioned Police as a corrupt institution which is an improvement on the 83 percent who mentioned Police in a 2018 Afrobarometer survey.

“This clearly shows that there is tremendous improvement in fighting corruption by the MPS,” Namwaza said.

Presenting the results today, Deputy Director for Centre for Social Research Joseph Chunga said Malawians believe that corruption has increased under the Tonse Alliance administration and that two-thirds of the general public believe there is poor job in dealing with corruption.

The results show that 66% agree that corruption has increased while 57% think it has increased a lot and 66% think government is not doing well to combat the corruption.

According to the report, 83 percent of Malawians want government officials who are suspected to have indulged in corruption to be immediately fired while 57% supports amnesty for those who give back ill-gotten wealth.

Members of the ruling Tonse Alliance were also asked questions during the study. The Afrobarometer report shows that 74% of UTM members feel corruption has increased while 58% of Malawi Congress Party members share the feeling.

Fifty-four percent of all respondents, believe the Tonse Alliance Government is more corrupt than its predecessor, the Democratic Progressive Party administration.