Updated today: 01/12/2026
I do not pretend to know why Malawi President Peter Mutharika decided to invite individual journalists to Sanjika Palace to wine and dine and of course according to some who are suspicious of his motives included in their packages a small fee of 50,000 Kwacha which when converted to real money is a meagre $100 bill.
Many felt it was to bribe them to cover his Presidency in a positive manner.
I for one do not ascribe ulterior Motives to the leader of the country. The President and his advisors should know by now that individual reporters while they might have a say in few articles or weekly columns here and there they do not generally control the slant of their publication one way or another.
MEC earlier in the year approached all Media houses in Malawi and invited them to a meeting to establish fair parameters of covering the elections. I was suspicious at First and wrote back demanding to know If they were trying to Muzzle or influence our coverage. They promptly replied and assured us that they wanted to see fair coverage for all political candidates.
One of the many good things to have come out of the two day conference was need to abide for the 48 hour nonpolitical events and coverage of such events by Media. A well known Doctor concerned that Peter Mutharika was poised to win the Malawi Elections approached us with a very critical opinion piece of candidate Mutharika. I do not mean to imply that the article would have changed the outcome of the Elections but out of obligation for MEC and our agreements with government we sat on the article and never published it.
No one accused MEC of buying any influence. They paid our representatives allowances and reimbursed all the expenses we incurred to get our people to Mzuzu. My point is that MEC could have easily sent invitations to individual reporters who have no day-to-day decision making in the Media houses.
If President Mutharika feels that a true democracy can only thrive with a strong and FREE Media as we feel he needs to make the funds that are available to print Media also available to the up and coming online Media houses as well. Positive coverage can only happen If the President is following Beneficial policies for the country not by paying individual reporters.
The Nation New papers at one time were denied the kind of funding I am talking about by the President’s brother Bingu WA Mutharika. Thankfully The Nation was able to get support from outside and as Malawians we cannot want our Government to pick winners and losers in the Media. Even those Media houses that might be perceived to have unfriendly leaning policies should be treated fairly by Mutharika and his government. Democracies only survive with a strong, vibrant and independent Media.
The Daily times and old Media in Malawi have done business with Government in a way that no one can accuse them of bias towards one party or another. They Did business when MCP was in Power, UDF, DPP, PP and now with DPP again.
It is true that we all have our biases in the way we will cover the news but what is expected from The President is the same openness that should be expected from Media houses.
