President Professor Peter Mutharika Tuesday urged the newly appointed ministers to take a lead in the fight against corruption, as it continues to prevail in many quarters of the country.

He made the remarks at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe during the swearing in ceremony for Rev. Malison Ndau, Minister of Transport and Public Works and Aggrey Masi, Deputy Minister of Defence.

Mutharika said corruption continues to rob the country of the necessary financial resources for development that has resulted in the unnecessary suffering of innocent, poor people.

“I will expect you to perform your duties in a manner that upholds the highest standards of integrity and propriety, and you must work hard. I will not hesitate to fire any member of the cabinet found to be involved in fraudulent or dishonest activities,” advised Mutharika.

The President said one of the key roles for the ministers is to advise the Head of State, therefore, it is his hope that the ministers will provide honest and objective advice.

The Malawi Leader said, “I will expect you to tell me the facts as you know them, not what you think I want to hear. I, therefore, will rely on you to assist me in delivering on the promises that we made to the people of this country”.

He then encouraged the new ministers to work alongside fellow members of the cabinet in finding long-lasting solutions to the challenges that the country faces.

In his remarks, Ndau thanked President Mutharika for the trust him by giving him a huge responsibility of being the Minister of Transport and Public Works of this country.

He said his role is to study what is going on and make necessarily reforms in areas that need change.

Ndau said the ministry has been facing a lot of problems and the government has incurred a lot of expenses when it comes to paying the contractors who are devoted.

“What we need to know is that when it comes to giving contact, we look at several factors such as experience. We do not need to worst resources. With my coming l will make sure that we study those people that we award contact to be real genuine people, contactors who are well experienced and with good equipment,” said Ndau.

On his part, Masi also thanked the president for the opportunity and that he is there to save the nation.

Masi said he will concentrate into his work and sort out all what is required to be done.