By Joseph Dumbula Snr
Good governance campaigners have described revelations of failure by some clusters to submit expenditure reports by President Lazarus Chakwera as an indication of deep-rooted culture of corruption in public institutions.
Chakwera made the revelation Sunday evening on account that to date some beneficiary clusters from the 6.2 billion Covid-19 allocations are yet to submit financial reports despite his order a fortnight ago.
These latest revelations come amid a growing public calls for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs to provide expenditure reports on how some funds have been managed.
But, Moses Mkandawire, executive director of the Church and Society under the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia has said, that the situation should be an eye opener for government.
“It is unfortunate that that is the case. However, it means that corruption mentality is still in our institutions and this administration should not relent to deal with that.’’ said Mkandawire.
He has also challenged officers in public institutions to be patriotic in prudently managing funds and ensuring that such reports are made available for transparency and accountability.
“By extension, it also calls for the president to have around him advisors that will appropriately guide him on these issues. It may tell that there are some sects that do not seriously want to follow presidential directives and this should not be overlooked’’ he said.
Mkandawire has since called on President Chakwera to ensure his call is not mere rhetoric but that perpetrators of corruption and mismanagement of funds are brought to book.
Some of the clusters that have benefitted are health, information, police and intelligence.
So far, there are nearly 15 thousand active infections while deaths due to Covid19 have risen recently to 856.
Around 150 thousand tests have been conducted and a total of 27,195 infections have been recorded since the first case in April 2020.
