The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) held a dissemination workshop to sensitize CSOs on The National Anti-corruption Strategy II (NACS II).
The NACS II was developed and launched in 2019 to replace the National Anti-Corruption Strategy that was formulated in 2008. NACS II is meant to operationalize efforts the Government of Malawi is undertaking to fight corruption in the country while contributing to Malawi’s Development aspirations as outlined in the MDGS III. The Strategy aims at improving the quality and accessibility of public services, strengthening the rule of law and promoting a culture of integrity.
The NACS II has twelve pillars as opposed to the previous one which had nine pillars. This was arrived at after thorough consultations which saw the youth, the academia and the women added to the list. The Civil Society has been a pillar for both NACS and NACS II. Other pillars include; public servants, the Judiciary, The Parliament, The business community, The Religious Community, Traditional leaders, local governments, The Media, the youth, the academia, and women. The NACS II has seven guiding principles which are; professionalism, efficiency, accountability, transparency, integrity, equity and inclusivity.
A multi-sectorial National Integrity Committee (NIC) was established as the leading body in the governance of NACS II providing leadership and direction to the implementation, coordination and management of NACS II activities. The NIC will consult the CSOs on the activities to conduct to help in the implementation of the NACS II.
The Civil Society in this strategy encompasses Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations, ant-corruption clubs and other legally registered not for profit entities.
Civil Society play a crucial role as a watchdog, promoting advocacy activities to give voice to less advantaged members of society , and in monitoring service delivery. In the implementation of NACS II, they are expected to develop an action plan that reflects the multifaceted potential of CSOs, CBOs and NGOs as agents of change in society. This will be reflected in areas of heightened corruption risk, developing and implementing education and awareness-raising programmes, as well as performing monitoring and impact evaluation of NACS II activities by all pillars.
Speaking at the workshop, The Deputy Director General of ACB, Mr. E. Bodole said Civil Society is an important player in the fight against corruption because they work with people, and are a watchdog in the fight. Civil society expose and report corrupt practices and sensitize people on corrupt practices hence considering them as a pillar.
Only 20% of Malawians report corrupt practices even though 97% of the population is aware of how bad corruption is. This, Mr. Bodole said is a very sad situation that needs to be worked on. People need to change their mindset and stop applauding corrupt practices and start fighting corruption.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) which was represented by the Chairperson, Mr. Gift Trapence, noted that the workshop will help civil society fight corruption in the country and report corrupt practices even though the funding is minimal. He also highlighted that the issue of protecting the whistle blower need to be taken seriously and given due attention and they, as HRDC will push for this to be included in the policies.