The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has urged police officers in the country to avoid any form of corruption to regain lost trust.
ACB principal corruption prevention officer Jimmy Mtafya made the call on Friday in Mangochi District at the end of a three-day institutional integrity committee (IIC) orientation for National Police Headquarters officers.
The orientation followed the establishment of an IIC by the graft-busting body in the Malawi Police Service (MPS) and other institutions to champion interventions that prevent corrupt practices.
Speaking in an interview after closing the orientation, Mtafya said law-enforcers are the image of the public; hence, any involvement in corrupt practices brings disastrous consequences to the country.
He said: “The public have a great expectation for the police. They want to see them desisting from any corrupt practices and being exemplary.
“Any involvement in corruption takes away the trust the public have on them, and this results in dmaging both the institution and the country’s image as well as affecting service delivery.”
Mtafya challenged the participants to take a lead in the fight against corruption by rolling out interventions in their institutions that preach about the evils of corruption.
MPS IIC chairperson Father Steven Likhutcha thanked the ACB for the orientation, pledging to embark on activities to tackle corruption.
He said: “We admit that corruption has engulfed the country including the Malawi Police Service.
“Now, going forward with the skills that we have learnt here, we promise to engage a fierce fight against in corruption.”
Lilongwe Wildlife Trust campaigns manager Samantha Nampuntha, whose organisation funded the training, challenged the police officers to tackle corruption head-on
