02:09
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
It is now two years since Malawi was rocked by its biggest government corruption scandal in history. The systematic looting of public coffers by civil servants, private contractors and politicians saw them steal US$31 million from government coffers.
It is estimated that about 35% of government funds have been stolen over the past decade. The impoverished country’s national budget for 2013-14 was about US$1.3 billion (630.5 billion Kwachas) at today’s exchange rate.
But has the country learnt anything from its biggest scandal that saw donors withdraw support?
The University of Malawi’s Blessings Chinsinga recently pointed out that:
… efforts to root out corruption do not stick because the existing institutional milieu makes it almost impossible to introduce changes that can effectively stamp out corruption.
The observation is instructive in that the scandal spans two political administrations. Malawi was led by the late president Bingu wa Mutharika in 2004 and the scandal unravelled on the watch of Bingu wa Mutharika in 2013.
Fertile ground for corruption
A number of factors contribute to the current state of affairs.
There is no clear distinction between a party in power and government activities in Malawi, unlike in established democracies. In Malawi, the party in power is the de facto government.
In Malawi, a party in power calls itself boma (a government). Ordinary Malawians look at abuse of state resources by those in power as acceptable. It is almost impossible to tell a party in power from the government.
Even more serious is the fact that political parties in Malawi are not mandated to declare their sources of funding. This breeds corruption and fosters abuse of public resources. This is not unique to Malawi. But in countries like Botswana, hailed as one of the model democracies on the continent, they at least have a debate on political party funding. Debates are also taking place in Nigeria and South Africa, respectively the continent’s largest and second-largest economies.
Another contributing factor is that after 21 years of multiparty democracy, governance in Malawi remains heavily centralised. Although the country has been independent since 1964, it only became a democracy in 1994.
Until then, it had been a one-party state decreed by its first post-colonial leader Kamuzu Banda, who banned political parties. He became president for life in 1971. Since 1994, the country has had local government representation for only six years – from 1999 to 2004 and from 2014 to now.
The central government has been reluctant to relinquish some of its powers. The president makes even the smallest of decisions and undertakes mundane tasks that should be reserved for line ministries. This encourages a system of patronage.
Lastly, government contracts, tenders and board memberships all go to sympathisers of the party in power and not necessarily to the best bidder or the most competent applicant. Government sympathisers or ruling party members get contracts regardless of their levels of competence.
This unfairly benefits the incumbents and weakens opposition parties. Businesspeople are afraid of funding opposition parties because they could lose state contracts and other business opportunities.
Scale and depth of corruption exposed
Malawians have always known that corruption is rife in the country. But the sheer size of the Cashgate scandal, both in terms of the amount and the wide number of people involved, has shown how deeply rooted the problem is.
The involvement of the country’s political class in the scandal is in stark contradiction to their penchant for standing on political campaign podiums promising to fight corruption with all their might.
Most of the people implicated in the Cashgate scandal were either members of the then-ruling People’s Party or its sympathisers.
There is an unwritten rule in Malawi that successful businesspeople align themselves with the governing party in order to protect their property and gain more contracts.
An aunt of Oswald Lutepo, thus far the main Cashgate convict and serving 11 years in jail, was heard in court lamenting that her nephew was advised that he did not need to join politics as he was already a successful businessman and multimillionaire. At the time of his arrest Lutepo was deputy director of recruitment in the People’s Party.
The aunt’s lament is instructive: people join politics in Malawi mainly to make money. In terms of this logic, the 37-year-old Lutepo was already a millionaire. He should have stayed out of it.
But he could not escape the lure of more riches that flow from being close to those in power. He knew the unwritten rule for success in Malawi only too well:
If you are unsuccessful, support the ruling party because this is where opportunities are.
Malawi is still learning to cope without support from donors and the jury is still out on whether it has learnt anything from its biggest scandal. A recent article in African Arguments underlines the hopeless feeling that Cashgate has left among most Malawians:
Malawi’s self-enriching officials need to know they will be judged not just by an imperfect judicial system, but by generation upon future generation of their compatriots.
It is estimated that about 35% of government funds have been stolen over the past decade. The impoverished country’s national budget for 2013-14 was about US$1.3 billion (630.5 billion Kwachas) at today’s exchange rate.
But has the country learnt anything from its biggest scandal that saw donors withdraw support?
The University of Malawi’s Blessings Chinsinga recently pointed out that:
… efforts to root out corruption do not stick because the existing institutional milieu makes it almost impossible to introduce changes that can effectively stamp out corruption.
The observation is instructive in that the scandal spans two political administrations. Malawi was led by the late president Bingu wa Mutharika in 2004 and the scandal unravelled on the watch of Bingu wa Mutharika in 2013.
Fertile ground for corruption
A number of factors contribute to the current state of affairs.
There is no clear distinction between a party in power and government activities in Malawi, unlike in established democracies. In Malawi, the party in power is the de facto government.
In Malawi, a party in power calls itself boma (a government). Ordinary Malawians look at abuse of state resources by those in power as acceptable. It is almost impossible to tell a party in power from the government.
Even more serious is the fact that political parties in Malawi are not mandated to declare their sources of funding. This breeds corruption and fosters abuse of public resources. This is not unique to Malawi. But in countries like Botswana, hailed as one of the model democracies on the continent, they at least have a debate on political party funding. Debates are also taking place in Nigeria and South Africa, respectively the continent’s largest and second-largest economies.
Another contributing factor is that after 21 years of multiparty democracy, governance in Malawi remains heavily centralised. Although the country has been independent since 1964, it only became a democracy in 1994.
Until then, it had been a one-party state decreed by its first post-colonial leader Kamuzu Banda, who banned political parties. He became president for life in 1971. Since 1994, the country has had local government representation for only six years – from 1999 to 2004 and from 2014 to now.
The central government has been reluctant to relinquish some of its powers. The president makes even the smallest of decisions and undertakes mundane tasks that should be reserved for line ministries. This encourages a system of patronage.
Lastly, government contracts, tenders and board memberships all go to sympathisers of the party in power and not necessarily to the best bidder or the most competent applicant. Government sympathisers or ruling party members get contracts regardless of their levels of competence.
This unfairly benefits the incumbents and weakens opposition parties. Businesspeople are afraid of funding opposition parties because they could lose state contracts and other business opportunities.
Scale and depth of corruption exposed
Malawians have always known that corruption is rife in the country. But the sheer size of the Cashgate scandal, both in terms of the amount and the wide number of people involved, has shown how deeply rooted the problem is.
The involvement of the country’s political class in the scandal is in stark contradiction to their penchant for standing on political campaign podiums promising to fight corruption with all their might.
Most of the people implicated in the Cashgate scandal were either members of the then-ruling People’s Party or its sympathisers.
There is an unwritten rule in Malawi that successful businesspeople align themselves with the governing party in order to protect their property and gain more contracts.
An aunt of Oswald Lutepo, thus far the main Cashgate convict and serving 11 years in jail, was heard in court lamenting that her nephew was advised that he did not need to join politics as he was already a successful businessman and multimillionaire. At the time of his arrest Lutepo was deputy director of recruitment in the People’s Party.
The aunt’s lament is instructive: people join politics in Malawi mainly to make money. In terms of this logic, the 37-year-old Lutepo was already a millionaire. He should have stayed out of it.
But he could not escape the lure of more riches that flow from being close to those in power. He knew the unwritten rule for success in Malawi only too well:
If you are unsuccessful, support the ruling party because this is where opportunities are.
Malawi is still learning to cope without support from donors and the jury is still out on whether it has learnt anything from its biggest scandal. A recent article in African Arguments underlines the hopeless feeling that Cashgate has left among most Malawians:
Malawi’s self-enriching officials need to know they will be judged not just by an imperfect judicial system, but by generation upon future generation of their compatriots.
Monday, 30 May 2016
Spreading its wings to India, Scoot launches services from Singapore to
Amritsar (fares starting Rs 4700) and Singapore to Chennai (fares
starting Rs 5700). Scoot service to Amritsar commences three times
weekly and will increase frequency with an additional Monday service
from July, restarting the Singapore-Amritsar route for the SIA Group.
The airline takes over the Singapore-Chennai daily service from
Tigerair, expanding capacity to Chennai for the SIA Group with its new
and spacious Boeing 787 Dreamliner as the world first all-787 operator.
Chief Commercial Officer for Scoot and Tigerair, Leslie Thng, said, “India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and Scoot is excited to present exceptional value, an empowering selection of customisation options including inflight connectivity and in-seat power, as well as service with Scootitude to guests flying into and out of India.”
“Guests from India can now fly to amazing destinations in our Asia-Pacific network through the Singapore hub, as well as onward with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Tigerair in the SIA Group portfolio,” he added. Scoot will also commence Singapore-Jaipur services four times weekly from October.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) , India is projected to be the world third largest air passenger market by 2031 with a total of 367 million passengers by 2034, an extra 266 million annual passengers compared to today.
Chief Commercial Officer for Scoot and Tigerair, Leslie Thng, said, “India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and Scoot is excited to present exceptional value, an empowering selection of customisation options including inflight connectivity and in-seat power, as well as service with Scootitude to guests flying into and out of India.”
“Guests from India can now fly to amazing destinations in our Asia-Pacific network through the Singapore hub, as well as onward with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Tigerair in the SIA Group portfolio,” he added. Scoot will also commence Singapore-Jaipur services four times weekly from October.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) , India is projected to be the world third largest air passenger market by 2031 with a total of 367 million passengers by 2034, an extra 266 million annual passengers compared to today.
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Indigo Airlines has declared that it will charge Rs. 2250 as cancellation charges for domestic passengers starting April 1, 2016. Until now, Indigo charged a cancellation fee of Rs1,250 per ticket on domestic routes in case the changes or cancellation of the ticket is made at least a month before the travel.
Within a month of travel, passengers were charged Rs 2,250. However, now travellers would need to pay a fixed amount of Rs 2,250 per ticket, irrespective of the time before travel.
Thursday, 3 March 2016
1. LIDA Travel Inc
Since 1996, Lida Travel Inc has been bringing quality service and significant savings to your needs.
International travel and tourism is our specialty! Discount on First and business class on most major carriers.
Ticketing, lodging, tours and so much more - LIDA Travel handles everything!
2. Distant Horizons
Since 1985, Distant Horizons has organized cultural programs to Cuba, Iran and other destinations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The focus of each trip is to allow the traveler the chance to breathe the culture and traditions of the country they are journeying through.
A small group size, the best hotels, superb local guides and an incredible first-hand knowledge of all our trips, allow us to offer comfortable and intimate tours to some of the world most magnificent countries.
3. Afghan Tours and Travel
Afghan Tours & Travel is an independent travel agency. Our goal is to serve our customers above and beyond the standard service. We are proud of our long outstanding friendly service to our clients (friends) over the past 13 years of exceptional service.
We are our competition and we strive to maintain but improve the level of service to our clients on every day. Our aim is to bring you the best service with the lowest fare.
Since 1996, Lida Travel Inc has been bringing quality service and significant savings to your needs.
International travel and tourism is our specialty! Discount on First and business class on most major carriers.
Ticketing, lodging, tours and so much more - LIDA Travel handles everything!
2. Distant Horizons
Since 1985, Distant Horizons has organized cultural programs to Cuba, Iran and other destinations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The focus of each trip is to allow the traveler the chance to breathe the culture and traditions of the country they are journeying through.
A small group size, the best hotels, superb local guides and an incredible first-hand knowledge of all our trips, allow us to offer comfortable and intimate tours to some of the world most magnificent countries.
3. Afghan Tours and Travel
Afghan Tours & Travel is an independent travel agency. Our goal is to serve our customers above and beyond the standard service. We are proud of our long outstanding friendly service to our clients (friends) over the past 13 years of exceptional service.
We are our competition and we strive to maintain but improve the level of service to our clients on every day. Our aim is to bring you the best service with the lowest fare.
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