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By Malawian journalist Draxon Maloya. First published in The Centre for Investigative Journalism Malawi (CIJM).
Threats to freedom of the press and harassment of journalists and media practitioners continue to rise in Malawi, where authorities are cracking down on journalists on allegations of cybercrime and for being whistleblowers on government corruption.
In February last year (2023), the Malawi Police Service detained Malawian female journalist Dorica Mtenje, who works for Maravi Post. The police confiscated Mtenje’s phones and filed charges against her for defamation, cyber-related offences, and offensive communication over a story she had not even written or published.
According to Mtenje, a senior reporter for the publication, the police said that the National Intelligence Bureau’s Director General, Dokani Ngwira, reported that the female journalist’s story could compromise national security.
Mtenje could not hide the fear that has now gripped her when recalling how she was kept at the National Police Headquarters for six hours before she was thrown into a cell at Area 18 Police in the capital city of Lilongwe.
“I was totally traumatised to the point of feeling like seeking asylum elsewhere considering how the police behaved towards me; they even took my phone, which had no password, and browsed through my personal and private information despite my complying with what they summoned,” says Mtenje.
Mtenje was subsequently charged with offensive communication under Section 87 of the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act and defamation under Section 200 of the country’s penal code.
If found guilty of offensive communication, Mtenje could face up to a year in prison or a fine of 1 million Malawian kwacha (US$ 737.00), while the defamation charge carries an undefined fine, a two-year imprisonment, or both.
“Through the passage of time since then, I have been receiving phone calls, most notably from the State House, informing me that they are watching whatever I am doing, and they even continued saying that they know the one I was working with but honestly am not aware of what is going on,” said Mtenje.
Mtenje is one of a number of media practitioners who have recently landed themselves in trouble for doing their jobs as journalists in different capacities. Currently, Mtenje is still practicing journalism and is working with Maravi Post. Following her arrest, she was released on the same day; however, no one seemed to be interested in taking the case further.
This is while some broadcasting houses, such as Rainbow Television, Angaliba Television, Ufulu Television, Angaliba FM, Capital Radio, Sapitwa FM, Joy Radio, Ufulu FM, and Galaxy FM, have had their licences revoked by the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) due to what is deemed severe negligence in exercising self-censorship and non-compliance with broadcasting licence fees.
This is done using the outdated Section 181 of the penal code and the Official Secrets Act of 1913, which was recently used to arrest Gregory Gondwe of Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) and most recently Macmillan Mhone of Nation Publications Limited, who was arrested for a story he published whilst working with Malawi 24.
These arrests were meant to suppress critical views while at the same time cultivating a spirit of fear among journalists despite the existence of the Access to Information Law (ATI, 2017).
Malawi passed the Access to Information Act in 2017, which is meant to give the right of access to information in the custody of public bodies and relevant private bodies; the processes and procedures related to obtaining that information are guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 4 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa.
It is also recognised under Section 37 of the Malawi Constitution and many of the constitutions of southern African countries. Another high-profile arrest was that of Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) Malawi journalist Gregory Gondwe in 2022 for publishing a story about a ‘leaked memo’ from Malawi’s Attorney General’s office, with the police demanding the reporter disclose his sources.
Gondwe, who is also a media trainer in investigative journalism through PIJ Malawi, describes the current media space in Malawi as hostile and risky for practice, in light of how the state intelligence units and MACRA are treating media practitioners for reporting critically towards senior government officials.
Gondwe expresses that since the time he wrote and published an article that involved a high-profile case of a British national, Zuneth Sattar, arrested on charges related to money laundering and corruption with top government officials implicated, including the former state vice president, Saulos Klaus Chilima, he has always been on the watch list for the Malawi National Intelligence Service (NIS).
“The challenges we are facing at the moment are always there—the unknown fear on the part of those running governments whenever journalists are doing their work. Since the time of harassment and the state confiscation of my gadgets, I have been receiving threats up to date, which clearly shows that the state is doing everything possible to cultivate a spirit of fear in the media space,” Gondwe said.
He further reveals that reporters under his organisation continue to receive threats through anonymous calls for reporting about the government’s delays in rebuilding roads that were destroyed due to Cyclone Freddy, to the point of involving the National Intelligence Service.
Writing in the UNESCO-funded State of Press Freedom in Southern Africa 2023 report, former Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi chairperson Teresa Temweka Chirwa-Ndanga noted that the arrest of journalist Gregory Gondwe in 2022 highlighted the Malawian state’s ability to use phone call logs to extract information.
“Gondwe, the managing director of the investigative news website Platform for Journalists (PIJ), was arrested after he refused to disclose the source of a memo that was leaked from the attorney general’s office.
During his six-hour detention, police demanded he reveal his source, searched the PIJ’s office, confiscated Gondwe’s cellphone and laptop, forced him to disclose his passwords, and then returned his devices the following day,” Chirwa-Ndanga said. Chirwa-Ndanga adds: “A week after his arrest, the website of PIJ was also hacked and taken offline by unknown entities.
The police denied any involvement in the hacking incident,” Chirwa-Ndanga, who completed her two-term (six-year) tenure as MISA Malawi Chairperson, noted in her start-of-year-2023 message on January 1, with concern for the growing trends of journalists being attacked or harassed while using the Access to Information Law or just doing their job.
She said attacks on journalists continued in 2022 with the members of the community who were more hostile to journalists than police and politicians in some instances.
“In April 2022, followers of convicted Pastor Penjani Sodzera of Redeemed for Christ Church assaulted Times Group correspondent Tiyese Monjeza and attacked other journalists who were covering the pastor’s defilement case at the Mulunguzi magistrate’s court in Zomba.
In May 2022, Super League of Malawi (SULOM) General Secretary Williams Banda verbally attacked Radio Islam Sports reporter Yusuf Daisa in a phone call. The reporter’s’sin’ was seeking clarification on the Super League fixture,” wrote Chirwa-Ndanga in a press statement of January 1, 2022.
She also decried the fact that the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), which is legally designated to oversee the implementation of the Access to Information (ATI) Act, has had limited or no funding since the ATI law was operationalized.
“In the 2022–2023 national budget, the Commission received no funding for the activities under the Act, casting doubt on the government’s commitment to effective implementation of the law. The Act places a huge responsibility on the Commission, and failure to fund activities is against the spirit of transparency and accountability that birthed the Act.”
As recently as May 17, 2023, some youths of the ruling party, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), harassed a Times Group photojournalist, Francis Mzindiko. The photojournalist was forced to delete all the footage he captured at the newly commissioned Malawi Bureau of Standard premises when they were fighting with youths from another member party of the Tonse Alliance, UTM youths, and the matter is in the hands of the police.
Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu issued a personal apology to the photojournalist, expressing his concern over the news.
He assured me that both the government and MCP are committed to creating a free and conducive environment for journalists. “We will come up with systems to make sure that this does not happen again; what happened was not a reflection of government or MCP policy towards the media and should not be a basis to label government as a violator of media freedom,” the Minister told reporters after the meeting held on May 19, 2023, at Times Media Group offices in the City of Blantyre.
Commenting on the status of media attacks, the current chairperson of MISA Malawi, Golden Matonga, describes the situation in upholding press freedom in the country as worrisome, claiming that the nation’s ranking on the World Press Freedom Index has dropped, which is unreflective of democracy.
Matonga further stated that MISA-Malawi is currently engaging all relevant authorities to ensure that press freedom violations are a thing of the past by, among others, working on the measures that will put in place a system that can take to task, either legally or by any other means, those violating media independence.
But the head of the Access to Information (ATI) Unit at the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), Chance Kalolokesya, says the culture of secrecy amongst duty bearers and those holding public information is a major detractor to press freedom.
He says despite the ATI legal framework being operational since September 2020, information officers in most government institutions need special mindset change sessions because they do not have all the necessary mechanisms in place as the law requires, saying it is the duty of the ministry of information to formalise the processes.
“We are having the past with a culture of secrets, which is a huge problem for practitioners in the country. The other challenge comes when people well knowledgeable about the law, the media practitioners, and human rights activists themselves seem not to take the necessary steps to create a conducive environment for their workspace,” says Kalolokesya.
Moses Kaufa, Executive Director of the Media Council of Malawi, says in an analysis of the current state of affairs in Malawi regarding the violation of media freedoms under the Access to Information Law that journalists lack the capacity to stand up for themselves.
This is particularly true in situations where some state agencies use the out-of-date Official Secrets Act, 1913 (Act 3 of 1913), which protects official state secrets against disclosure, to silence them because they are unaware of the law or find it difficult to hire a legal representative whenever rights are violated.
These include Section 87 of the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act and defamation, under Section 200 of the penal code; Section 181 of the penal code, which is always abused to limit and suppress critical views; the Official Secrets Act (1913); the Printed Publications Act (1947); the Censorship and Control of Entertainments Act (1968); as well as the Protected Flags, Emblems, and Names Act.
“It has been observed that for journalists to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in court is still a huge challenge since most media houses in the country are financially struggling, hence the law enforcers and politicians taking advantage of the situation.
“But it is very sad that we still have some legal provisions like the Official Secrets Act, 1913 (Act 3 of 1913), which protects official state secrets against disclosures, that are still in conflict with the now operationalised ATI law, providing room for such abuses,” Kaufa said.
Despite evading all our efforts to be granted an interview on the accusations levelled against some state agents and their offices, both the Attorney General, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, and the National Police Public Relations Officer, Peter Kalaya, were already recorded as having apologised to MISA-Malawi and the entire media fraternity.
The apology was made for the arbitrary detention and confiscation of electronic gadgets for the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) and the Maravi Post journalists during the period mid-2022.
According to media reports, the apology was made when MISA-Malawi and Chakaka held a closed-door meeting in the office of the Attorney Generals at the Capital Hill in Lilongwe, where the government’s legal chief also made a commitment to repeal or review some archaic laws that restrict the media’s freedom of expression and violate the right to privacy.
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report of 2023 has also established that political influence over the media restricts journalistic freedom in Malawi; hence, practitioners remain subjected to threats and cyber-harassment, though so far, no reporter has been reported killed or continued to be detained by any state agency.
Institutions advocating for media freedom, including academia, have on numerous occasions called on the executive arm of government and the Malawi Police Inspector General to act in accordance with Section 36 of the Republican Constitution to reprimand and discipline officers who have been abusing journalists in the country while also reminding other institutions that journalism is not a crime.
Charles Govati is a well-known senior human rights advocate, a member of the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI), and an alumnus of the University of Malawi’s Bunda College of Agriculture Campus.
He also charges the executive branch with employing a “deliberate ploy” to subvert the cybercrime legal provision of the already operationalized ATI law in order to further their own self-serving agendas.
“It is sad that the executive is doing every possible ways to frustrate the Access to Information Law and the media operations in the country, despite the operationalization of that law, you will find that very little is done for one to appreciate that there is indeed press freedom in Malawi,” Govati said.
Govati, however, called on both journalists and stakeholders in the communication sector to wear one hat in the fight against impunity that has for decades impeded media freedom and operations.
In 2017, Malawi enacted the Access to Information Act with the aim of ensuring that citizens have the right to access information held by public and private bodies as guaranteed by several international agreements, including Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, and Article 4 of the Declaration of Peoples on Freedom of Expression in Africa, while the procedure for obtaining information is recognised under Section 37 of the Malawi Constitution.
Nevertheless, political influence over the media continues to restrict journalistic freedoms in Malawi, as reporters are still subjected to threats and cyber harassment.
Figure 1: Media Freedom Violations 2022, Malawi During 2022, press freedom violations increased, with the government attempting to restrict press freedom and intimidate journalists and media practitioners.
The figure above illustrates cases of press freedom violations in Malawi in the year 2022. According to the State of Press Freedom in Southern Africa 2023 report, 57 percent of journalists were either assaulted or attacked, while others were either suspended, denied funding, threatened, or suffered harassment.
In 2017, Malawi enacted the Access to Information Act with the purpose of ensuring that citizens have the right to access information held by public and private bodies as guaranteed by several international agreements, including Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human and People’s Rights and Article 4 of the Declaration of People on Freedom of Expressions in Africa, while the procedure for obtaining information is recognised under Section 37 of the Malawi Constitution.
Nevertheless, political influence over the media continues to restrict journalistic freedoms in Malawi, as reporters are still subjected to threats and cyber harassment.
