By Sellah Singini
Principal Secretary in the Department of e-Government under the Ministry of Information and Digitalisation, Stephen Mjuweni has described the Anti- Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) reporting mobile application as a powerful tool that empowers people to become active participants in safeguarding financial resources.
Mjuweni made the remarks when he officially launched the ACB corruption reporting mobile application at Capital Hotel in Lilongwe on Thursday.
He said corruption has for so long undermined Malawi’s development efforts and the introduction of the mobile application will streamline reporting, ensure cases are logged properly and acted upon.
“Today’s launch of this application is a bigger step towards the fight against corruption. It is also a milestone for allowing in advancing our strategic goals of digitalisation and good governance,” Mjuweni said.
“Digitalisation is not a luxury, but a necessity for our nation’s socio-economic growth as enshrined in Malawi 2063. The vision aims at fostering a digitally enabled, industrialized and self-reliant nation,” he added.
Mjuweni observed that the key pillar of Malawi 2063 Vision is the creation of an efficient, transparent and citizen centric government, noting that the launch of the application contributes directly to this aspiration by enabling every citizen with a mobile phone to report corruption securely and directly.
Acting Director General of ACB, Hillary Chilomba said the application is a game-charger because previously people used to report suspected cases of corruption through emails, letters, phone calls and by physically visiting ACB offices.
Chilomba said the application will enable people to use it while at home and remain anonymous and it can be used both within and outside Malawi.
“This application is for all Malawians both in rural and urban areas. However, I must emphasise that our main target users are the youth, since they are majority of technology adopters and believe in the digital space.
“We are pressing this into the hands of young people because they are the ones who are building a generation that refuse to tolerate corruption and demands accountability,” Chilomba said.
He, therefore, said the bureau is committed to protecting whistle-blowers from any form of retaliation.
The launched ACB corruption mobile application is designed to enable citizens to report suspected corruption confidentially and securely, enhance responsiveness and accountability mechanisms at the ACB and foster citizen participation in strengthening governance and transparency.
