State of the media in Southern Africa - 2003 • DATE: June 2, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Radio stations VIOLATIONS: Censored O n June 2 2003, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) ordered com munity radio stations to stop airing news bulletins, saying the Communications Act forbade such stations from running news programmes. Macra Director General Evans Namanja spoke at a two-day international workshop on the promotion of community radio stations. “News is supposed to be for the general public and not a particular community. By broadcasting news, the community radio stations are hijacking the role of public broadcasters, such as the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Television Malawi (TVM),” said Namanja. Macra’s statement is based on Section 51(3) c, which bars community radio stations from “broadcasting news services and factual programmes.” However, Sections 35 and 36 of the Malawi Constitution provide for freedom of expression and the press. • DATE: July 11, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Malawian journalists VIOLATIONS: Threatened O n June 24 2003, President Bakili Muluzi threatened to deal with media outlets that probe into the way he distributes maize to his supporters during political rallies. President Muluzi was apparently incensed by a lead article in the Weekend Nation of June 21-22 that questioned the source of the food the president doles out at his rallies. The president warned that he would be forced to act if the media does not stop “rubbing its nose” in his business. • DATE: July 11, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Daniel Nyirenda VIOLATIONS: Beaten , equipment confiscated O n July 7 2003, Daniel Nyirenda, a photojournalist with the daily newspaper The Nation, was severely beaten by suspected members of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) youth wing at the party’s mini-convention in the city of Blantyre. According to another Nation journalist, Gedion Munthali, who escaped unhurt, the youths attacked Nyirenda when he tried to take pictures of a fight among delegates over control of the main gates to the convention hall. Munthali said the youths, who accused The Nation of writing negatively about President Bakili Muluzi’s government, beat up Nyirenda before rolling him in mud. The youths also smashed a digital camera and stole a professional camera belonging to The Nation. Nyirenda also lost his cell phone in the fracas. • DATE: July 11, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Ken Ndanga, Chikumbutso Mtumodzi, Thom Chiumia VIOLATIONS: Sentenced T hree journalists have been ordered to pay a fine of K450,000 (approx. US$5,000) to Stanbic Bank Malawi Managing Director Victor Mbewe, his wife and Stanbic Bank as compensation for a defamatory story the newspaper published in December 2002. The three journalists - Ken Ndanga, Chikumbutso Mtumodzi and Thom Chiumia - are owners of The New Sun newspaper. The journalists are well-known for their attacks on perceived enemies of President Muluzi and the ruling United Democratic Front political party. In an article published on December 23 2002, The New Sun alleged that Mbewe was involved in a love affair with his bank’s public relations officer. So This Is Democracy? 2003 50 Media Institute of Southern Africa