The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) says amendment of the corrupt practices act by the Law Commission will help the Bureau in the smooth running of its operations.

Technical advisor to the Bureau, Paul Russell said one of the major setbacks to the Bureau’s operations has been the inadequacy of the Corrupt Practices Act.

“We have noted that inadequacy of the Act is impinging on our capability. We are happy that the Law Commission is working on amending the Act. When that happens, it will make us better to operate,” said Russell without elaborating.

He however said the Bureau has made tremendous achievements since its establishment in 1998, notable among them is its involvement in public procurement processes all of which involve millions of Kwachas. He said in the past, public procurement process was not strong enough to offset any attack.

“As a Bureau, we are proud that we are fulfilling our objectives to investigate and prosecute offenders, to educate people of Malawi away from corruption and make measures to prevent corruption,” he said.

According to the technical advisor, the Bureau receives complaints from all corners of Malawi, which are then studied by a complaint review committee. However, Russell said 75 percent of the complaints are not related to corruption.

In the last three months, the Bureau has received 377 complaints, 74 of which are corrupt related. 43 cases have been completed.

“But we never throw any cases away. What we do is refer them to relevant authorities such as the police, the Office of the Ombudsman or other institutions, majority of cases are referred to other institutions and minority go to court,” said Russell adding that as of now, the Bureau has 13 cases in court and 30 are awaiting trial.

A total of 11 people have been arrested in the last three months with three convictions, 2 acquittals and 3 appeals at the High court.

Russell said the Bureau plans to expand its operations in other districts to reach out to as many people as possible. Currently the Bureau has Regional offices in Blantyre and Mzuzu with the headquarters in Lilongwe.

“We are also embarking on staff development to increase our prosecution capabilities,” he said.

He observed that the Bureau often has financial constraints, which makes it difficult to run properly. The Bureau gets most of its funding from the Malawi Government and donors such as the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the European Union among others.

The ACB was created under section 13 (o) of the Malawi constitution, which says there should be measures to ensure transparency and accountability. It is also in the same democratic principles that the Office of the Ombudsman and the Malawi Human Rights Commission were established.

Insider Publications, August 21, 2002