By Clever Mwale:
The Independent Complaints Commission (ICC) has revealed that more than half of the complaints it has received against the Malawi Police Service since 2020 remain unresolved.
The commission cites resource constraints among the contributing factors.
ICC statistics show that it has received 592 complaints since it started operations in 2020.
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Out of these cases, only 268 cases were completed, leaving 324 still pending.
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The Daily Times has further learned that out of the completed cases, only three have resulted in convictions.
In 2026, ICC has already received 72 new complaints.
Speaking during a media engagement in Lilongwe on Monday, ICC Deputy Director of Investigations Grant Kankhulungo attributed the growing backlog to “chronic shortages” of personnel, equipment and funding.
He said ICC had an establishment of only 30 employees, with just seven investigators responsible for handling complaints from across Malawi, a situation he described as a major obstacle to timely investigations.
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He said mobility was another challenge, as ICC has two operational vehicles to respond to cases from districts stretching from Chitipa to Nsanje.
“We are talking about human resources, finances and material resources. There are only seven in the investigations department, with two operational vehicles covering the whole country,” Kankhulungo said.
According to Kankhulungo, ICC proposed an operational budget of K882 million for the 2025-26 financial year but received only K774 million.
For the 2026-27 financial year, ICC asked for K2.45 billion but was allocated K907 million.
He said the government currently provides only about 30 percent of the commission’s monthly operational requirements, forcing the institution to seek support from development partners, some of whom have already expressed willingness to assist.
Meanwhile, People’s Federation for National Peace and Development Executive Director Edward Chaka has called on the Malawi Government to be providing enough resources to the commission.
“An empowered commission will ensure that there is goodwill between the Malawi Police Service and service seekers.
“We, therefore, urge the government to capacitate the Independent Complaints Commission by providing enough personnel and ensuring that it has enough vehicles to ease mobility. When the commission works efficiently, service seekers will feel encouraged to b seeking services,” Chaka said.
