Oxfam Malawi report indicates State capture, corruption are causes of inequality
Oxfam Malawi is this Wednesday set to launch a report in Lilongwe which aims at addressing inequality challenges in which it has said solutions can only be attained if legislation to check corruption and external influence on the government (State capture) is fully implemented.
The report – titled ‘Closing the Divide in Malawi – How to Reduce Inequality and Increase Prosperity for All’ – is providing recommendations on fighting inequality of all forms in the country.
It follows an earlier analysis which was done in 2015, A Dangerous Divide – the State of Inequality in Malawi, which revealed the growing problem of inequality in the country.
“Inequality is not inevitable as a result of policy choices made by those with power. The paper shows that to leave no one behind and get on track to achieve the sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the government must commit to policies which prevent the country’s elites from appropriating the benefits of economic growth and instead ensure that benefits are redistributed to all,” reads the report in part.
However, the new report presents a vision, roadmap and policy recommendations for a more inclusive, equitable and prosperous Malawi.
Itv indicates that is is only when governments and institutions are accountable that the gap between the minority – who control the government and the poor – who suffer lack of access to social services can be nafrrowed,
According to Oxfarm Malawi report, a small wealthy elite ha sgained influence over the political process due to political party funding mechanism that leads to State capture.
“Corruption is one of the most extreme forms of political capture,” said the report.
To gtackle inequality as a result of political capture and corruption, the report has commended the passing of the Political Parties Act as one way of regulating party funding and donations.
The report also calls upon government, decision makers, development partners and institutions to work for citizens, especially for those living at the margins, in order to break out of slow unequal growth.
Malawi is said to be stuck in a deadlock of slow growth which is unequally distributed, where poverty and inequality are two faces of the same coin.
Between 2004 and 2011, the gap between the richest 10 percent of Malawians and the poorest 40 percent increased by almost a third.
There are fears of having 1.5 million more Malawians being poor by 2020 should the trend continue to rise as in the past years.
Even rapid economic growth will fail to tackle poverty in the country should the situation continue to rise.
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What does Oxfam do? What concrete results has Oxfam achieved in Malawi? Oxfam is a neo-colonial western institution whose work is to suffocate economic growth in poor countries. Its work is talk and talk but no action. It get so much of British taxpayers money and donations which only end up as salaries, allowances etc. Very little of that money reaches poor people in Malawi, Haiti etc. Oxfam can produce report after report but they are guilty for pretending to be working to eliminate poverty when in actual sense they are making poverty worse.
One of the biggest causes of inequality in Malawi is these so called ‘NGOs’ that waste our hard-earned taxpayers money on pointless reports, conferences and consultancies. Their staff have well-paid jobs which they spend doing mostly useless ‘work’, attending local and international ‘conferences’ which are supposedly designed to ‘tackle poverty’ or other senseless nonsense. All these years these NGOs have worked in Malawi, how have they developed our country? And yet you will see them driving the latest Land Cruisers, at the most expensive hotels and lodges, claiming allowances for attending a conference or ‘workshop’. These NGOs are one of… Read more »
Oxfam is one of the NGOs (or CSO) which continue to perpetuate poverty in Malawi and worldwide because its work treats the symptoms of poverty rather than causes. ‘State capture’? too academic and emotional way of putting blame where it doesn’t solely lie. Yes, government has a role but there is also personal responsibility in the issue of poverty – ignorance, illiteracy (by choice) over-population, retrogreive cultural beliefs and practices etc. Why are some people doing well in Malawi coming from very poor backgrounds. I agree the other problem is capitalism (neoliberal economic policies) which most African countries were not… Read more »
There is much truth in this article, as interpreted by the reporter Wanga Gwede. Dire consequences follow inevitably, especially in a small economy like ours, when politicians betray the citizens in crass, blatant and so-in-the-open corruption known as “state capture”. The term has been popularized close to home, in South Africa, regarding Zuma and the Gupta brothers: we have no equivalent in Malawi; but there may be a near example we can think of. If Bwana Chaponda was to be proven that he got bribed in the so-called maize gate, that would be “state capture” because the Bwana was so… Read more »
Capitalism is the genesis of corruption worldwide. Malawi is NOT an exception. But what is UNIQUE in Malawi is that it is cabinet ministers who connive with senior officers in public sectors and parastatals to LOOT & DEVOUR the country’s resources. This is done in a systematic and well- structured manner. DPP TOP BRASS appoint people in key strategic positions using NEPOTISM and LHOMWE tribe as a criteria, regardless of qualifications or proven competence. On the other hand conmen masquerading as businessmen finished up the business.. Money is later SHARED in bedrooms in both local and foreign currencies. Goodall and… Read more »