(MISA/IFEX) – The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) has alleged that five print journalists have been hired to write articles to discredit President Bingu wa Mutharika and his cabinet. In a statement issued on 9 December 2005, OPC’s Director of Public Relations Mike Kamwendo alleged that three of the “mercenary” journalists work with […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) has alleged that five print journalists have been hired to write articles to discredit President Bingu wa Mutharika and his cabinet.
In a statement issued on 9 December 2005, OPC’s Director of Public Relations Mike Kamwendo alleged that three of the “mercenary” journalists work with the “Daily Times”, one for “The Nation” and one for “The Chronicle”.
Kamwendo alleges that the journalists have been paid by Phillip Bwanali, a former cabinet minister, since August 2005, and that their work for him entails attacking the president and his wife, the foreign affairs minister, the attorney general and other high ranking officials.
In an interview with MISA Malawi, Kamwendo refused to name the journalists, saying: “If they do not desist from their abortive grand mission, for starters, their identities will be exposed.”
MISA Malawi has described the allegation as an attempt to threaten the media. It also says that, by refusing to identify the journalists, OPC is telling the public not to trust the media as it is full of “liars, cheats and corruption.”
Nation Publications Limited and Blantyre Newspapers Limited, publishers of “The Nation” and “Daily Times”, respectively, have described the statement as mere speculation aimed at tarnishing the image of the media.
Since President Bingu wa Mutharika left the United Democratic Front (UDF), the party that sponsored him in his bid for the presidency, and formed his own Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in February, the media has been the target of unsubstantiated allegations of corruption.
Recently, the DPP alleged that some journalists were being paid by former president Bakili Muluzi to discredit the current administration, while the UDF alleged that some were being paid by the DPP to sideline the opposition.
