Malawi: Is There a Media Clampdown in Malawi?

A fancy debate on media freedom is underway in Malawi, with opinions strongly divided. It comes after authorities revoked the licenses of a number of unbiased broadcasters over unpaid charges.

In August, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) revoked the licenses of quite a lot of personal radio and tv stations over what it mentioned was the non-payment of license charges.

Ufulu FM, Ufulu Tv, Galaxy FM, Pleasure Radio, Sapitwa FM, Capital Radio, Angaliba Radio, Angaliba Tv, and Rainbow Tv are actually off the air. The closure of additional personal broadcasters is predicted.

Some media specialists are applauding the enforcement of a regulation that has lengthy not been utilized. Others are involved that the federal government is attempting to silence its critics.

In a DW interview, MACRA Communications Supervisor Zamdziko Mankhambo defended the transfer, saying the regulatory physique was performing inside the regulation.

“This can be a regulated trade and do you have to not adhere to any license situation, there are penalties. You may have your license revoked,” he mentioned.

The broadcasters that had been stripped of their licenses had been given till August 22 to settle their excellent charges, however cost was not made, Mankhambo instructed DW.

The regulatory physique has indicated that it plans to revoke at the least 23 broadcasting licenses by the top of the 12 months and get well in extra of $100,000 (€10,163) in unpaid charges.

Malawi has a complete 95 broadcast licensees.

An ill-timed transfer

The native chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has criticized the transfer by MACRA as ill-timed.

“The federal government itself has acknowledged that the financial system is in tatters, so to implement license revocation at a time that the financial system is just not doing properly (…) is just not useful,” MISA-Malawi chair Tereza Ndanga instructed DW.

The MISA Malawi Chapter doesn’t encourage non-compliance in terms of license charges, Ndanga mentioned.

Media Council of Malawi (MCM) chair Knowledge Chingwede instructed DW he’s anxious concerning the regulator’s clampdown.

“There should be an amicable resolution to the issue that we’ve at hand,” Chingwede instructed DW. “It was MACRA’s fault to have delayed this lengthy with licenses which might be unpaid.”

The Media Institute of Southern Africa has despatched a written complaint to Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera over the problem.

The establishment has additionally famous the progress the nation had made in making certain entry to data and media freedom.

Media job cuts

Dr. Sydney Kankuzi, a media and communications skilled on the College of Malawi, instructed DW he helps the federal government’s total effort to control the broadcasting sector.

“You’ve gotten a Communications Act that empowers a parastatal to control and implement the regulation. They’re doing [that] after which one blames them for that and accuses them of clamping down on media freedom?” Kankuzi mentioned.

“Possibly there’s only a misunderstanding of what’s the precise regulation of that regulator.”

The closure of radio and tv stations is more likely to imply extra job cuts. Some 250 media employees are already unemployed in Malawi.

Robert Edward, a tv persona, has not had work since MACRA stripped Rainbow Tv and different broadcaster of its licenses. He instructed DW,

“I have been extremely affected with the revocation of the license. I used to be making ends meet till rapidly…”

This text was expanded on September 23 to make clear a quote by Tereza Ndanga.

Isaac Kaledzi contributed to this text.

Edited by: Benita van Eyssen