Leadership dynamics in the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Malawi.
Date
2014-09-09
Authors
Tholo, Marion Douglas
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
The Anti-Corruption Bureau of Malawi has been facing leadership instability since it was established by an Act of Parliament in 1995. The institution is headed by a Director who is appointed by the State President pursuant to section 5 (1) of the Malawi Corrupt Practices Act of 1995, hereinafter, referred to as CPA. The Director must be of high integrity, and must possess qualifications and acquired some training necessary for leading the Anti- Corruption Bureau. He/she is supposed to serve for a fixed contract of four years, and the appointment is supposed to be confirmed by the Public Appointments Committee of Parliament.
Similarly, powers to remove the Director from office are vested in the President. However, such removals or dismissals have to be ratified or confirmed by the same Public Appointments Committee of Parliament. The reality on the ground however, is that different presidents have fired various Directors without following the procedures laid down in the CPA. Whenever there is regime change in Malawi, the new president fires the incumbent Director and replaces him/her with another one of his/her choice. This has created instability of leadership in the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and has become a source of concern, prompting the researcher to conduct a study in order to investigate the major factors causing leadership instability in this organization.
The study sought to come up with strategies that would be recommended to the Anti-Corruption Bureau for consideration so that leadership is made stable. The study used a qualitative approach to collect data from respondents within the organization, and the results have shown that the manner in which the Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau is hired and fired, has contributed to leadership instability, arising from changes that are made by any sitting president to the leadership of the Bureau.
Description
MM 2013
Keywords
Civil service, Local government,Politics and government, Political corruption .