By Rose Mahorya
Mzuzu, August 19, Mana: Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Gospel Kazako has said government would engage Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to investigate suspected abuse of funds in its projects to ensure transparency.
Speaking in Mzuzu Tuesday when he visited Northern Region Information Office, he said the ACB was not just meant to investigate private institutions alone.
The Minister said this after it was discovered that substandard work was done on establishment of Northern Regional Information Office Studio which he said was unfortunate.
“There’s what they call a studio and I am reliably informed that millions of money were involved but what I have seen is something that possibly didn’t cost above K2 million; we will follow up on how that money was used.
“As Government, we will make sure that the transparency talk starts with government institutions themselves,” Kazako pointed out.
He said government would ensure better working conditions which would include promotions and provision of equipment.
The Minister expressed the need for the Ministry to take the central role in formalization of information dissemination in the wake of fake news.
“Currently, information is being passed to the public, but there was still a lot that the public is yet to be enlightened on.
“As a Ministry, we are working on seeing that the public does not have any information gap on all spheres,” he promised.
Deputy Regional Information Officer (DRIO) for the North, George Bulombola appreciated the Minister’s visit to appreciate the work being done at the Regional Office.
After touring the Regional Information Office, Kazako proceeded to Malawi Broadcasting Corporation’s Kaning’ina Studios in the city where he assured staff of independence from political interference over the institution’s operations.
Honourable Minister, my free advice which your PS should have given you is that it is better to deal with such cases through a Technical Audit. This is done by audit engineers.