The Government of Norway has singled out widespread corruption in Malawi as one of the reasons affecting the country\u2019s development.<\/p>\n
Norway\u2019s Ambassador to Malawi, Kikkan Haugen, has said although there have been commendable results in areas such as fertility rates, child mortality and number of women who give birth in health facilities, there are a number of challenges in other areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs it is now, State dominance, widespread corruption and lack of legislative reforms are some of the bottlenecks that prevent Malawi from achieving the investment friendly climate the country so desperately needs and deserves,\u201d Haugen said.<\/p>\n
He was speaking in Lilongwe on Wednesday night during the celebrations marking Norway\u2019s Constitution Day.<\/p>\n
His remarks come weeks after European Union (EU) Ambassador to Malawi, Marchel Gerrmann, expressed similar concerns over corruption in the country.<\/p>\n
Haugen stressed the need for seriousness on the reforms the country is currently implementing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to see continued reform in Malawi. Many reforms have been initiated\u2014public service, decentralisation, land reform and electoral reform\u2014just to mention a few, but they all have a way to go before they are being fully implemented. And some reforms are still outstanding, like the reforms in the agricultural markets making them more predictable and investor-friendly,\u201d Haugen said.<\/p>\n
He also said he expects Malawi to continue doing more on human rights and the rule of law.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to continue working with you on these crucial issues, and hope and expect them to be continued to be honoured as the country edges towards the next elections,\u201d Haugen said.<\/p>\n
He said for his country to continue investing in Malawi\u2019s development, it has to see continued and documented good results.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Francis Kasaila, hailed the role Norway has played in strengthening the ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n
He said Malawi considers the partnership with the Kingdom of Norway as special considering that the two countries have always engaged in a constructive dialogue whenever there are issues in their commitments to partnership.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorway has been quick to work with this country whenever there are signs of regression on governance issues. This has allowed us to register the needed changes for the good of our nation, and the partnership which we enjoy,\u201d Kasaila said.<\/p>\n
He said the government is serious with the reforms it has been implementing since 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe it is only through transformative change that we can meet the aspirations of our people and continue to enjoy the confidence and support of our partners among whom Norway stands prominently. We are pleased to note the assurance of Norway\u2019s continued support,\u201d Kasaila said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Government of Norway has singled out widespread corruption in Malawi as one of the reasons affecting the country\u2019s development. Norway\u2019s Ambassador to Malawi, Kikkan Haugen, has said although there have been commendable results in areas such as fertility rates, child mortality and number of women who give birth in health facilities, there are a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46716,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46713\/revisions\/46716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}