Minister of Information and Civic Education Brown Mpinganjira has high praise for the media for its responsibility of protecting Government resources in ensuring that there is transparency and accountability in all national matters.
Mpinganjira said this in Blantyre on Thursday during the opening of public funds accountability symposium for media managers which was organized by Media Council of Malawi with support from World Bank.
The purpose of the meeting is to review media performance, obstacles and way forward in holding government accountable on public financial management issues.
He said media plays a crucial role in informing the public citing the “cashgate” scandal as the one media has covered in a very consistence manner.
“Media has played a big role in recent months due to cash gate scandal. Even when the media was critical on genuine issues that also helped government to address some matters.
“I have to say here that for the last 10 years corruption has been growing very fast but media was unable to expose it. I am happy with the way how media is conducting its business now.
“However I feel somewhere media has not done well. There some media houses that belongs to some political grouping, so with that they fail to investigate and report the matter in a good manner,” said Mpinganjira.
Mpinganjira has since urged media to be patient though sometimes look for instant answers saying some things have procedures to follow before the information required is released.
Mpinganjira was referring to how media was conducting its business on issues to do with cash gate and the release for forensic audit.
He said people should patiently wait for the outcome of cash gate cases saying nobody who is involved in the scandal shall be spared.
Media Council of Malawi (MCM) Chairperson Reverend Patrick Semphere said the role of the media in promoting accountability and checking corruption cannot be overemphasized.
He said on daily basis, the media is running stories that in one way or another expose mismanagement of funds and corrupt practices.
“In a bid to out-scoop each other, media houses have often fallen into the trap of sensationalizing stories without adequate facts and evidence. Litigations have followed and some publications have closed because of careless reporting.
“We need to address the issue of integrity within the media itself to ensure that we are not part of the problem we are expected to solve,” said Semphere.
