Donors want more on corruption fight
Development partners have said the country should not relax with the progress made so far in the fight against corruption.
They say government should intensify its efforts to ensure that transparency and accountability remain in the public sector.
Reacting to President Peter Mutharika’s address, British High Commissioner to Malawi Holly Tett said the country has registered a considerable progress in tackling corruption.
Tett however said more has to be done to ensure that procurement and financial rules are tightened.
“I think there has been a lot of progress. Many bills are being processed, very important in tackling corruption. There is Procurement Bill and Financial Intelligence Act. The new appointment of the Director of ACB [Anti-Corruption Bureau] shows a positive move. However, we really need to work hard to ensure that procurement rules are tightened and institutions are frequently regulated,” she said
Norway’s Ambassador to Malawi, Kikkan Haugen, said it was pleasing to know that Parliament has stepped up efforts to look into audit reports and follow how government has been managing its resources.
“We are also excited that in this session they will debate the Political Parties Bill that will see political parties disclosing their source of funding. We are confident that they will bring it for debate,” he said
United States (US) Ambassador to Malawi Virginia Palmer said it is worth noting the micro-economic stability that the country has registered.
“The kwacha is stable and the inflation is down. The President was saying that now government is looking forward to development spending. And I think that is what the development partners and World Bank are looking forward to.
On bringing, the Electoral Reforms Bill to Parliament, Palmer said the development community cannot dictate the change in the bill, but hopes that the bill will not be tackled towards election period.
“We hope that Parliament will look into the package of electoral laws this session because we do not want it to get too close to the election. There must be time for Parliament to implement whatever changes they decide on. The donor community has no position to decide what the reforms should be only that after the 2014 elections there was an outcry that there should be reforms,” she said
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