The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted a Social Accountability Training workshop for area development committees (ADCs) from traditional authorities Makwangwala and Ganya and ACB clubs in Ntcheu District.

The Bureau concluded that monitoring and evaluation of community development projects will reduce corruption in district councils. The latter conclusion was made, addressing an audit report last year, by the National Audit Office (NAO) which revealed that almost K5.9 billion has gone unaccounted for in the June 2018 fiscal year. The audit report was presented to Parliament, exposing how the funds may have been abused, like payment vouchers that were not submitted for audit. Failure to provide other documents for audit inspection was also noted by the audit.

During the workshop in Ntcheu, ACB’s senior public education officer Catherine Nkhoma urged the participants to take a leading role in development projects in their communities for easy monitoring. “ADCs and ACB clubs are like middlemen in the local councils. Most of them are not trained. So, we will conduct training nationwide on how to monitor and evaluate development projects in communities.” said Nkhoma.