Anti- Corruption Bureau bemoans corruption in councils
By Isaac Salima:
Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Martha Chizuma has expressed concern that the country continues losing of money through councils due to procurement flaws.
Chizuma made the remarks in Nsanje last week when the Bureau together with Ministry of Local Government officials interfaced with traditional leaders, civil society organisations and sector heads from the district.
The meeting followed complaints of ghost workers and misprocurement at Nsanje council that were reported to the ACB.
“We continue receiving complaints from most district councils about corrupt practices. Nsanje is a reflection of what is happening in all councils in the country and that is a bad direction as a country.
We are pleased that we heard from chiefs who are tired of corruption and that is good because if we are to fight misappropriation of funds, all of us have to be involved,” Chizuma said.
Secretary for Local Government Charles Kalemba said it is high time they restructured how the councils operate.
“Councils are engines of the country’s development agenda, hence the need to deal with any flaws that affect their operations. We cannot continue tolerating these and we will no longer be transferring officials that abuse funds but rather fire them,” Kalemba said.
Senior Chief Malemia said they will not sit and watch such kind of malpractices happening at the council.
Reports indicate that most of the projects in the council remain unfinished despite funds already being paid. Some council officials suspected to have been involved in the malpractice have since been interdicted paving the way for investigation on the matter.
