By Sylvester Kumwenda
Lilongwe, April 22, Mana: One of Africa’s Anti-Corruption figure heads, Patrick Lumumba has urged Malawians to rally behind President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera in his fight against corruption if the country is to make strides in ending the vice.
He made the remarks on Thursday after Dr. Chakwera and Lumumba had an interface meeting at Mtunthama State Lodge in Lilongwe which dwelled on a number of issues critical to the development of the continent of Africa, like in the areas of tourism, agriculture, education, good governance and corruption.
Lumumba, who is also a well-known motivational speaker and legal practitioner said after a long time, Africa has (in Chakwera) seen a head of state standing firm to fight corruption from all fronts, including taking to task members of his own administration that are embezzling public resources.
This, he said is a strong sign of an open political goodwill, which is a necessary ingredient in the fight against corruption.
“In many countries, what people, anti-corruption and prosecuting authorities complain about is lack of political will. The president has demonstrated this political will so that these anti-corruption authorities no longer have an excuse.
“What they need to do now is to ride on that crest of that will to prosecute the cases effectively, to adduce cogent evidence so that the judiciary has no choice but to convict on the basis of evidence that has been adduced,” he said.
The Pan-Africanist however, cautioned that the fight against corruption is not an easy one, not for the faint hearted and not a one man’s job.
The Kenyan said that even as president Chakwera is leading the fight, there will be other individuals who are going to fight back.
“Corruption fights back, it accuses. Corruption is a dragon that is not going to be easy to slay. It is therefore incumbent upon Malawians, from the Churches, Mosques, lawyers, engineers to the ordinary citizens to rally behind the president because those engaged in corruption will not go down without a fight.
“They are going to mount a fight, they are going to try to compromise the judiciary, and try to do everything that is within their power to ensure that they are not punished,” said Lumumba after his second engagement with Chakwera.
The Professor also said through the conversation, the two also revisited some of the ideas and ideals that were articulated by the 32 founding fathers of the different countries of Africa, especially on the conversations that were held in 1963 in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
They also had talks on how Africa can move forward amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the looming leadership of Chakwera on the Chairmanship of Southern African Development Community (SADC).
“We have identified that going forward, it is critical for governments to think very differently because COVID-19 has created an environment where some things can no longer be undertaken in the manner that they were initially programmed.
“On the other hand, we also discussed the fact that the president will soon assume the chairmanship of SADC, and I have requested the president to utilize that opportunity to articulate the significance of enhancing intra-African trade, particularly in the context of the Africa continental free trade area to ensure there is movement of labour and exchange of ideas, amongst other things,” said Lumumba.
Lumumba also informed the president of a foundation Lumumba is running which is undertaking various activities in the areas of health, education and arts, just to mention a few, in eight African countries and 10 countries outside Africa.
