Media applauded on Cashgate coverage
Malawi Government has commended the local media for its coverage of the looting of public funds at Capital Hill called Cashgate, saying they left no stone unturned in uncovering various issues surrounding the scandal.
Speaking during a public funds accountability symposium for media managers held at Protea Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre yesterday, Minister of Information and Civic Education Brown Mpinganjira said the media helped the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in making sure the culprits in the public funds looting were brought to book.
“The media, though with some media practitioners having allegiance to other interest groups, have done so well in reporting the Cashgate issue and they need to be congratulated. Government is glad that even when the media was critical of it, it was able to come forward with a positive story once they found it and the critics helped us move forward,” said Mpinganjira.
In his opening remarks at the symposium, Media Council of Malawi (MCM) chairperson Patrick Semphere said the role of the media in promoting accountability and checking corruption cannot be overemphasised because on a daily basis, the media is running stories that, in one way or the other, expose mismanagement of funds and corrupt practices.
Said Semphere: “The so-called Cashgate and Jetgate scandals have demonstrated the watchdog role of the media as breaking news has been featured exposing aspects of the scandals that could otherwise have gone uncovered.”
The symposium– organised by MCM with support from World Bank – included presentations from assistant director in the Ministry of Finance Betty Ngoma; managing editor for Nation Publications Limited Edward Chitsulo; media lawyer at Chancellor College Edge Kanyongolo and Chris Chisoni of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.
