LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Malawi government through Information Minister Henry Mussa on Tuesday told the nation that the Kenyan government officially communicated to Lilongwe and cleared that no Malawian national was involved in Al-Shabaab which claimed responsibility for the attacks at a luxury hotel in the East African country last week.
The clarification comes after South Africa’s broadcaster SABC aired a story where an analyst claimed that there was a Malawi connection in the Kenyan terror attack that killed at least 21 people last week and Malawi News , a national weekly, quoted Izak Khomo, who was described a “producer” and “analyst” at the SABC, saying the country was implicated in the Kenyan terror attacks because it had connections with Al-Shabaab
The SABC carries content to other African states in SADC and other African regions through a platform called Channel Africa, giving it an audience that reaches millions of people in the continent.
But in a press statement made available to the Maravi Post, Mussa condemned reports linking Malawi to the terror attacks, and expressed delight that Kenyan government has cleared Malawi on such unfortunate link
“Government wishes to inform the general public that the relevant authorities of the Government of the Republic of Kenya have confirmed that no Malawian national was involved in the 15th January 2019 terrorist attacks at a luxury hotel in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi,” reads part of the statement.
The statement further reminds all news organisations in Malawi to exercise “utmost care and professionalism” when reporting on matters of national security and interest of any country, including of Malawi.
Mussa warned the media to exercise the same measure of professionalism in the choice of words or terms and desist from using terms such as “Malawi, Malawians” haphazardly, “a fact that the Media Houses should know better.”
On Sunday, the Malawi Civil Society Led Black Economic Empowerment Movement (MaBlem) penned a scathing letter to the SABC demanding that it clarify remarks made by Khomo which caused mass hysteria within Malawi’s media industry.
MaBlem has also demanded the SABC to provide evidence on the country’s links with terror group Al-Shabaab or else MaBlem would seek legal redress on the matter and call for the channel to be blocked in Malawi if it did not receive a response within the next two weeks.
The Malawi government therefore says is closely following up and undertaking consultations with the relevant authorities of the Republic of Kenya on the recent tragic incident.
Five militants, including a suicide bomber, stormed the luxury Dusit complex in the Westland’s district of the capital last Tuesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens.