The World Bank has accused the Malawian government of abusing funds meant for its projects in the country. This adds to the several corruption cases the south east African country has been involved in. In line with the policy of the World Bank, Malawi will now have to refund the money, even as it battles to sustain partnerships with other donors due to trust issues.

According to reports, the World Bank Country Manager for Malawi, Laura Kullenberg, confirmed that the government will have to refund the misused money. The money in question, which amounted to over $500,000 (K400 million), was billed for the procurement of computers and printers. The money in question is under the World Bank funded Financial Reporting and Oversight Improvement project, managed by the Treasury – the equivalent of the Ministry of Finance in other countries.

“As part of our fiduciary responsibilities and oversight for World Bank Group [WBG] funded projects, we take procurement issues seriously, in order to ensure client countries receive value for money from these projects.

“When our due diligence establishes a project expense as ineligible, we normally request a refund from government for those expenses. For example, when goods or services procured do not meet the specifications indicated in bidding documents, when required documentation is missing or when the procurement method used is at variance with what was originally cleared by the bank under its procurement policy,” Kullenberg said.

Financial impropriety is not new in Malawi. Fiscal indiscipline during the Muluzi (1994-2004) and Mutharika (2005-2012) presidencies prompted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to suspend lending in 2001 and 2011, respectively. Also, since 2013 – when President Joyce Banda, the first female Head of State of the country was in office – the #CashGate scandal was a major case which is still unresolved. Clearly, there is an urgent need for the Malawian government to invest in an anti-corruption crusade and promote transparent financial management. With the fast decreasing level of trust that most international bodies have in the country, if nothing is done to ‘cleanse’ Malawi of financial misconduct, there will be more tension in its relations with external bodies.

Elsewhere on Ventures

Triangle arrow