Student Name: Kenneth Gondwe

Student Id: R1703D2463846

public corruption in malawi

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................1
RESEARCH BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................1
THE RESERCH PROBLEM STATEMENT......................................................................................................2
BAKILI MULUZIS ADMINISTRATION.....................................................................................................2
BINGU WAMUTHALIKAS ADMINISTRATION........................................................................................2
JOYCE BANDAS ADMINISTRATION.......................................................................................................3
PETER WAMUTHALIKAS ADMINISTRATION.........................................................................................3
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE..............................................................................................................................4
GENERL OBJECTIVES................................................................................................................................4
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES...........................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH QUESTION..........................................................................................................................4
HYPOTHESIS.........................................................................................................................................5
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY..................................................................................................................5
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH.......................................................................................................................6
DATA COLLECTION PLAN.....................................................................................................................6
DATA ANALYSIS PLAN..........................................................................................................................6
ADVANTAGES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH.......................................................................................6
DISADVANTAGES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH.................................................................................6
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH..........................................................................................................................7
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS.................................................................................................................7
ADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH.........................................................................................7
DISADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH....................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................9
INTRODUCTION
A countries economic freedom is based on a lot of political decisions and one of these decisions is to
have a zero free corruption state. A state which is facing a lot of governmental corruption decreases the
GDP of the nation and therefore reduces the living standards of its citizens. On the contrary a state with
less corruption practices experience economic boom which results to better living standards of its
citizens. On the road to end public corruption there are a lot of factors we have to understand and that
is the primary purpose of conducting this research. In this essay the research will open with the
background activity in order for us to understand what corruption is and how deeply rooted it is in
Malawi. The next section will compromise of a problem statement which explains the root causes of
public office corruption especially in the government.

After these explanations the essay will continue with the hypothesis, some research questions, research
objectives, and significance of the study. The essay will finalize with a layout and a conclusion at the end.

RESEARCH BACKGROUND
Malawi is a poor land rocked country located in the sub-Sahara region in southern Africa. Countries in
southern Africa are all considered developing countries due to their high poverty levels when compared
to the whole world. Statistics show that Malawi is in the top bottom of the least developed countries in
the world. The question might be, why is Malawi still poor even after 57 years of independence? The
answer to this question is complicated and can be answered differently but one of the main reasons is
corruption. Corruption can be defined as a deviant behavior associated with a particular motivation
namely that of private gain at public expense (freidrich,1972, in anders & Nuijten,2007:7.). corruption
can range from simple transactions to complex transactions. In the political environment, political
corruption can be seen as corruption that takes place at the highest levels where politicians use their
influence and power to maintain their wealth, popularity, status and power (Amundsen, 1999).

Research has shown that political Corruption in Malawi dates back then from the first president of the
country Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda when he took power in 1965 up to now in the reign of President
Lazarus Chakwera in 2021.In between these two presidents are four other presidents who have also
seen political corruption levels rise during their years of service(Harling, 1995).What makes matters
worse is that all the six presidents except the newly elected president Dr Lazarus chakwera have had
cases in court that they were directly accused of being on the fore front of leading corruption in their
government.

Political corruption is indeed one of the reasons why Malawi has not achieved economic freedom as
research shows that about $80 billion has been stolen or mis used in government offices in the short run
of these six presidents of Malawi (Harling, 1995).
THE RESERCH PROBLEM STATEMENT
With the few remarks said upwards there is evidence that public corruption is present in our nation of
Malawi and this is a big problem amongst the economy and democracy of the country. However, in
order for us to find ways of solving the problem we have to identify the causes and real-life examples of
corruption cases in the country. For what is a case without proof only then can we realize the depth of
the problem.

BAKILI MULUZIS ADMINISTRATION

Bakili Muluzi was elected as the second president of Malawi in May 1994.Muluzis government changed
the previous government income source (the patronage system) to gain control of the press (kees van
donge, 2002). This system expanded Bakilis business empire. When Muluzi came to power people
expected better living standards and yet the president himself was on the fore front of leading
corruption. when they received donor aid, ghost workers were employed with profits shared among
senior staff members of the government departments(Anders,n.d;15).In Muluzi’s second term Malawi
slipped from the national corruption ranking, from position 61th to 97th out of 158 countries.
(Hussein ,2005:93)In the same period research done by the world bank shows that the administration
saw itself losing MK 22 million annually due to corrupt practices which included payment to ghost
teachers ,funding of ghost projects ,rental bills of ghost houses. Malawi is said to have lost MK10 billion
due to corruption and bribes(Hussein,2005:93).These practices led to donor countries like Denmark in
2002 to pull out its donations while the united states advised that Malawi would not qualify for share of
a USD 15 billion package to fight Aids and the ambassador of the US clearly said that putting money in a
place where corruption is not controlled is waste of resources.(Hussein,2005:94).

BINGU WAMUTHALIKAS ADMINISTRATION

Bingu Mutharika became president in 2004 after being handpicked by Muluzi to be his
successor(BBC,2005).He later left the party which voted him to power (the United Democratic republic
front) and formed his own party (the Democratic Progressive Party) as he felt to be a pulpit of the
previous president Bakili Muluzi .During Bingus first five years Malawi saw a change in corruption
practices he was strict to his anti-corruption campaign .He is one of the few leaders of Malawi who is
remembered as a legend due to his victory against the 2004 famine and an increased change in the
economy which increased living standards of the people. In Bingu’s second tenure things started getting
out of hand as corruption cases started immerging amongst his cabinet (nyasa Times,200b).

A quantitative research was taken by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) after a quick review on a recent
Auditor general report which covered the 2005/2006 fiscal year. The report reviewed that there was
theft and fraud within the cabinet of the president of about MKW 154 million this included 77 million
which was the payment of relief programs and the other 75 million was unaccounted. It was then
suspected by the Auditor General that the accounting records might have been destroyed by the
suspected people in order to conceal the fraud (nyasa times ,2009a). In 2010 a corruption investigation
by ACB showed that corruption in the president’s inner circle was present and the fingers pointed to her
excellency Joyce Banda who was the vice president at the time. The report shows that 2.9 billion was
mismanaged and that her office was responsible for the illegal sale of ADMARC (It was in this time that
she was responsible for Malawi’s strategic grain reserves since she was the chairman). The action had
serious consequences as it led to the 2005 national food crisis even though her president Bingu
Mutharika found a way to rescue his careless cabinet (nyasa Times,200b).

JOYCE BANDAS ADMINISTRATION

In 2012 Joyce Banda became the first female president of Malawi. She was sworn to power after the
unfortunate death of Bingu Mutharika. In her two year rule her administration was responsible for the
corruption scandal which was famously known as the cash gate scandal.

In 2014 a retrospective research on the cash gate scandal which goes down in the country’s history as
one of the greatest corruption scandals in the country was performed. The research suspected
corruption of the Joyce Banda administration by the Malawi bureau of standards ranging from January
2012 to December 2013(a period of two years). The following data was collected from each interview
and collection of governmental data pack.

In January 2014 the state appointed the anti-corruption bureau to do some research on the issue. The
anti-corruption bureau used qualitative and quantitative approach to deal with the problem. The anti-
corruption bureau reported that principle accountant in president Banda’s office, Frank Mwanza
authorized the payment of $3 million (Mk 1 billion) to a ghost film (Harrison ,2007). A junior officer was
found with $25000 in his house whilst his monthly salary was $100 during a police raid (Harrison ,2007).
Seven Week later 14 government employees were arrested for fraud and a month later 9 senior police
officers were arrested for accepting brides costing a total of $164 000.On September the 7 th Patrick
Sithole an accountant was arrested for illegally being in possession of $310 000 (Mk 120 million) .The
arrest was made with the help of Sithole’s maid who was caught with some potions of money herself.
( nyasa times ,2015a).All these corruption crimes were in line with the president herself Joyce Banda in
which people like Patrick Sithole were found that the stealing was done with top offices help so that
they can enrich the president and her top officials .

PETER WAMUTHALIKAS ADMINISTRATION

Peter Mutharika was elected as the president of Malawi in 2014. He came into power promising good
governance and corruption free procedures. Unfortunately, just like the presidents before him
corruption continued in his administration.

Another investigation which shows how serious and the extent of political corruption in the country is
during Peter Mutharika’s reign as president. Unlike during Dr Joyce Banda’s administration corruption in
the Mutharika’s administration has been known after the ruling party has been sent out of power.

The newly appointed President evidenced this on June 28 2020 that over $ 1 billion was stolen during
former president Peter Mutharika’s administration (BBC ,2020). President Chakwera further went on to
say the plunder is contained in the recent Auditor General’s report which looked at finances of the
previous two years (BBC ,2020). The president further went on by saying $10 million could not be
accounted for and that $1 million was used to pay for projects which were not completed. He even went
on by saying the theft is even worse than the 2013 cash gate scandal of Joyce Banda’s administration
(BBC ,2020). Corruption in Peter Mutharika’s administration is further evidenced with the arrest of the
former president’s security aid Norman Chisale who is suspected to be in connection with a $7 million
cement import scandal.

Despite all the corruption cases there had only been Three confirmed arrest of the top cabinet officials
which includes Norman Chisale (Chief security body guard of former president Peter Mutharika ) Yusuf
Mwawa ( former educational minister In Bingu Mutharika s administration) and Sam Mpasa (an
educational minister in Muluzi’s administration).The lack of success was reflected in the 2010 survey
and this has made the citizens to lose trust in all the governments including those that have not even yet
come to power.(Chinsing et al.,200:57).These few examples show the extent of how Malawian
government officials have abused power through corruption.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
GENERAL OBJECTIVES
There are two reasons for conducting this research. First of all, to find out if public office corruption
exists in the country and lastly to find out if it exists, to what extent has it reached and what can be done
to reduce or terminate the problem.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
The aim of this research is to look deep into the corruption system of the country. These objectives can
be sub divided into minor objectives which includes;

1. To identify if there is public office corruption in the country.

2. If public office corruption does exist what are its drivers, forms and influences.
3. To what extent has public office corruption reached and does it affect high ranking officials?
4. What response to public office corruption can be adopted to reduce its impact.

RESEARCH QUESTION
The research questions mentioned below are the main topics of this study.

1. How has public office corruption affected the economy of Malawi?

2. How deeply rooted is public office corruption and does it affect high ranking officials?

HYPOTHESIS
Hypothesis 1

H0: There is a direct relationship between public office corruption and the economy of Malawi.

H1: There is no relationship between public office corruption and the economy of Malawi.

Hypothesis 2

H0: Public office corruption is deeply rooted affecting high-ranking officials.

H1: Public office corruption is not deeply rooted and does not affect high ranking officials.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to investigate on whether we have public office corruption in Malawi or not.
It is important to know the state of corruption in our country since the money that is most of the times
stolen is the people’s taxation money and donation money from well wishing countries. The basis of the
money is to help in day to day government duties but also help in the development of Malawi. This
research has looked into the most recent government administrations of the country to fully understand
how deeply rooted corruption is and to have a picture of what causes this evil practice in our
governments so that we might find ways of preventing the same mistakes from re occurring in the
future. So far there has been evidence of government corruption practices in all offices starting from the
president’s cabinet to mare government workers.

With the evidence found and after going through a detailed research on four consecutive government
administrations, the writer has come up with a conclusion that concludes that corruption exists in public
governmental offices in Malawi. The drivers and influences of corruption is mainly due to greed, hate
and the desire to enrich oneself. I have also found out that corruption is evident because it has become
a tradition among Malawians that you can steal and walk away with it as evident in all the governments
that have so far ruled Malawi. The extent which corruption has reached is beyond measure as it has
started from the top offices such as the president’s cabinet itself. It is difficult to blame an ordinary thief
in the streets as the ones who are supposed to set an example are the people on the fore front.

The consequences of corruption are so vast and devastating. It is estimated that about 35% of
government funds have been stolen over the past decade (Carr,2018). In 2013 the countries national
budget was about $1.3 billion. Corruption of the cash gate scandal led to donors withdraw of support
forcing the government to only rely on taxation money. There illegal sell of Admarc in 2005 led to
famine and the over $1 billion government money stolen during Peter Mutharika’s administration has
led to poor living standards of 80% of Malawians up to date even though it has been a year since but the
wound is still fresh.

The only positive response to corruption can be seen if some rules of the constitution can change for
example the president should not be the person who elects and removes the director of the Anti-
Corruption Bureau (ACB). The way the ACB runs should change and governments should be willing to
help the anti-corruption bureau at all costs without interfering with its judgements.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative research is a systematic investigation of gathering data and performing statistical
mathematical, or computational techniques (Rahman,2017). Quantitative research collects information
from existing and potential customers using sampling methods. The results are always depicted in
numerical figure. Techniques used include survey research, correlational research (Rahman,2017).

DATA COLLECTION PLAN

There are two main ways of collecting data in a quantitative research method and these include
probability and nonprobability sampling. In probability sampling a theory is used to filter individuals
from a population and create samples where by participants of the population are chosen randomly. In
non-probability sampling the researcher mainly uses experience and knowledge therefore there is an
equal probability of being selected (Rahman,2017).

DATA ANALYSIS PLAN

When data has been collected what follows is for it to be analyzed. It is important to relate if the data
collected is positively responding to the objective of the research. One of the best ways of collecting
data is through the SWOT analysis (Strength, weakness, opportunity and threat.)

ADVANTAGES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

1. Collect reliable and accurate data
 Collection and analysis of data in numbers makes the results data reliable since numbers
do not lie. Numbers offer an honest picture of the conducted research and help when a
researcher is experiencing conflict.
2. Quick Data collection
 Using surveys or any other quantitative method when collecting data can be
straightforward and fast as the process of statistics and analysis is easy.
3. Wider Scope of data analysis
 With the presence of statistics, the quantitative research method provides a wide
variety of data collection.
4. Elimination of bias
 The given results are numerical therefore considered for reducing the scale of favoritism
or bias.

DISADVANTAGES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

1. False focus on numbers
 By only focusing and concentrating on numbers there are chances that you can miss out
on important information that can benefit your business.
2. Can be misleading
 Even though numbers do not lie it is the researcher who collect those numbers. Bias and
errors made by the researcher when collecting numbers can give wrong outcomes
therefore misleading the whole process.
3. Difficult setting up of research model
 During a quantitative research there is a process that you have to follow such as data
collection, hypothesis, and data analysis. Any errors occurred in the process will
sophisticate the whole procedure and can invalidate results.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data such as words, video or audio.
Some of the main methods of collecting data using the qualitative approach includes observation,
interviews, focus groups (Zikmund, 2003).

QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS

As said on earlier qualitative data takes on forms of texts, audio, video or photos. This is made possible
through interviews, survey responses, recordings etc. In qualitative data collection five steps are
supposed to be followed and they include; preparation and organization of data, review and explore of
data, development of a data coding system, assignment of codes to the data and lastly identifying
recurring themes (Zikmund, 2003).

ADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

1. Flexibility
 The data collection and analysis are flexible and can easily be adapted as new ideas
emerge
2. Natural setting
 It is realistic since dt collection occurs in the real world.
3. Comprises of Meaningful insights
 Descriptions of people’s experiences, feelings and perceptions can either be used in
designing, testing or improving products.
4. Generation of new ideas
 Open ended questions help researchers to uncover problems they would never thought
of.

DISADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Researchers have to see the practical and theoretical limitations of qualitative research and
unfortunately these are its drawbacks.

1. Unreliability
 The real-world setting makes qualitative research unreliable it contains uncontrolled
factors of data

2. Subjectivity
 Qualitative research cannot be replicated this is due to the primary role in analyzing and
interpreting of data by the researcher
3. Limited generalizability
 A small sample can be used to gather detailed data about the whole population. This is
difficult to draw generalizable conclusions as the data collected may be biased.
4. Labor intensive
 Even through with the advancement of computer technology where by software can be
used to manage and record data, analysis of the data on the other hand has to be
checked manually.
Conclusion
The essay has a summary review of the research background and problem statement. about public
office corruption in Malawi. The essay has also included the research objective, research question,
hypothesis and significance of the study. Lastly this research can be used to understand how corrupt
Malawian governments are and what causes the corruption in the country and how it can be solved. It
also explains in details the process of quantitative research and qualitative research method.
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