Tension is quietly building inside the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), where senior officers have been awarded salary increments of up to 45.9 percent, while lower-graded staff have received as little as 16 percent, leaving the institution struggling to publicly explain the widening gap.
Acting ACB Director: Chembezi
Inside sources say the Bureau appears “tongue-tied” and unable to openly address growing unease among employees who feel the latest salary structure heavily favours top management at the expense of junior and support staff.
According to internal documents, the revised pay structure shows a steep and uneven upward adjustment across grades. The Director General (Grade 1) has received an 18.5 percent increase, while the Deputy Director General (Grade 2) has been awarded a significantly higher 33.8 percent increment.
The most striking jump appears in Grade 3, where directors of departments have been granted a massive 45.9 percent salary increase—the highest in the entire structure. Newly created deputy director positions are now entering the system with monthly salaries of about K3.3 million, reshaping the institution’s internal pay hierarchy.
A source familiar with the changes said the restructuring has had a ripple effect across the organisation’s grading system.
“You can see that since Grade 4 is new, they needed to push salaries for Grade 3 higher up. That has also pushed back grades for chiefs, who were initially in Grade 4, and have now been moved to Grade 5. This has also affected perks,” the source said.
However, the adjustments have triggered frustration among lower-ranked employees, who argue that while leadership salaries have surged, their own increments—capped at around 16 percent—do not reflect the workload and cost of living pressures.
The internal tension is compounded by the silence from the Bureau’s communications office. ACB spokesperson Jacqueline Ngongonda could not be reached for comment, with calls, WhatsApp messages, and emails remaining unanswered at the time of publication—adding to the perception that the institution is struggling to publicly justify the disparities.
Legal experts say the development, while within administrative discretion, raises serious concerns about fairness and morale in a public integrity institution.
Private practice lawyer Benedicto Kondowe warned that such disparities risk undermining cohesion.
“Where lower-ranked officers perceive the adjustments as disproportionately favouring top management, it risks creating demoralisation, resentment, and a sense of exclusion,” he said.
He added that support staff and junior officers remain critical to institutional effectiveness, and perceived unfairness could weaken teamwork and productivity.
Governance analyst Chrispine Mphande of Mzuzu University noted that the pay review comes at a sensitive time, given long-standing concerns about underfunding at the ACB, which has often been cited as a constraint to effective operations.
At the national level, government itself has approved salary adjustments for civil servants ranging between 10 percent and 20 percent in the 2026/27 fiscal year—placing the ACB’s internal disparities well above broader public sector trends.
In the same K10.9 trillion national budget, wages and salaries are projected at K1.923 trillion, up from K1.631 trillion in the 2025/26 fiscal year. The K288 billion increase is meant to cover existing staff costs, salary adjustments, and targeted recruitment in priority sectors.
But inside the ACB, the numbers are now at the centre of quiet tension—one that staff say is widening the gap not only in pay, but in trust.
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