By Judith Ugwumadu | 26 November 2013
The Malawi government is to issue weekly public reports on the progress it is making to address financial management weaknesses and corruption following the country’s ‘cash-gate’ scandal, information minister Brown Mpinganjira has said.
The scandal saw senior government officials and ministers steal MK20bn ($48m) in public funds from July this year. Last month, President Joyce Banda dismissed her Cabinet and has pledged to crack down on corruption in Malawi even if it jeopardised her chances of re-election in May next year.
Malawi has developed an action plan to close loopholes in the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS), which made it vulnerable to fraud.
Mpinganjira said a ministerial committee meeting will take place every Wednesday to monitor the plan’s progress. The first such meeting took place on November 20, according to press agency reports.
More than 60 short- and long-term improvements will be made to the IFMIS to tackle systemic weaknesses that were exploited in the recent cases of theft and fraud. It will also ensure similar occurrences are averted in the future, he added.
‘After every meeting of the team, I will be informing the nation through journalists about how government is faring in ensuring that financial management systems are strengthened and how prosecution of those involved in the scam is progressing,’ Mpinganjira said.
The minister also noted that Malawi’s development partners were invited to participate in the meetings of the committee.
He added that the action plan was spilt into five sections: investigations and prosecutions; auditing; accounting; administrative measures; and reforms. ‘There [is] remarkable progress in all the segments,’ he said.
‘In investigations and prosecutions, for instance, both the Democratic Progressive Party and Anti Corruption Bureau are currently working towards elevating all cases being handled presently to the High Court from Magistrate Courts,’ continued Mpinganjira.
‘Over 21 persons so far have been committed to the High Court through the Director of Public Prosecution.’
In accounting, a supplier to the programme had been engaged to enhance security and system controls, and collate all suspicious transactions, he said.
Mpinganjira also noted that Banda had approved the introduction of independent audit committees for government ministries.
Earlier this month, Malawi’s Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts published a report following its investigation into financial mismanagement and misappropriation in government.
The PAC highlighted a number of financial irregularities and lack of serious controls not only in the adoption and utilisation of the IFMIS but also general management of public resources.
It also called for the governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi to step aside from his role, with immediate effect, in order to pave the way for smooth and unhindered investigations into the role the bank or governor might have played in the scam.
