Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa)-Malawi Chapter and Media Council of Malawi (MCM) have unveiled plans to meet Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) management again over alleged biased reporting ahead of the September 16 General Election.
The plan comes about a month after the two media bodies engaged the taxpayer-funded MBC on July 3 2025 to map the way forward on balance and fairness in its news and programming during the official campaign period.
In separate interviews on Monday, Misa Malawi chairperson Golden Matonga and MCM chairperson Jolly Ntaba expressed concern that despite engaging the public broadcaster last month, some of the issues they raised have not been addressed.
Matonga said during their previous meeting, Misa and MCM queried MBC on some of its news content and commentaries they deemed to be biased towards the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
“We are planning to engage the MBC leadership again. So, as Misa Malawi and Media Council of Malawi, we need to bang heads and decide on the way forward,” he said.
But both Matonga and Ntaba observed that MBC has now tried to open up its airwaves to opposition political parties. They, however, said the State broadcaster can do better.
“They are trying, but they can do better because we still want to see more coverage from opposition political parties,” said Ntaba.
In a separate interview, MBC director general George Kasakula said MBC cannot adopt everything Misa Malawi and MCM suggested.
“Does it mean everything that we have discussed I should adopt? MBC is run by law and I am trying to comply with the law,” he said.
The Communications Act of 2016 gives MBC a crucial obligation to inform the public on electoral matters in a fair, equitable and transparent manner.
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) director general Daud Suleman refused to comment on anything to do with MBC.
However, he said every broadcaster knows what the broadcasting laws say and consequences of not complying with the law.
Last month, Macra deputy director of broadcasting Kelton Masangano asked media houses to level the playing field for all political parties and independent candidates in the run up to the election.
