Regional Editors’ Forum condemns Macra

The Southern African Editors’ Forum (Saef) election observer mission has expressed concern over Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority’s (Macra) decision to ban some private radio stations from covering the tripartite elections.

But Macra spokesperson Clara Mulonya accused Saef of basing its criticism on wrong information.

“All radio stations had the freedom to broadcast unofficial results except Galaxy Radio that was banned after contravening the Communications Act and the terms and conditions of its broadcasting licence before the voting process,” she said.

In a statement issued on Friday, the forum has also criticised restrictions placed on some print journalists who, it said, were frequently prevented by security detail, particularly at the main tally centre in Blantyre from accessing areas meriting news coverage.

The Saef statement, signed by its executive director Elizabeth Kalambo M’ule, commended the media for generally performing “fairly well” in covering the elections.

The forum observed that the attitude of authorities towards media “was variable and displayed a welcome transparency at some levels while also trying to impose intolerable restrictions on other occasions.”

However, Saef said it was impressed with the Malawi Electoral Commission’s (MEC) organisation of press briefings, but noted the tendency to, at times, “limit information rather than provide it on a comprehensive basis.”

Saef also hailed the introduction of the Malawi Electoral Support Network (Mesn) facilitated citizen reporters who were using a toll-free line to send information to a central clearing house for investigations and validation.

The forum also condemned the press for favouring presidential candidates at the expense of parliamentary and local wards candidates.

A newspaper advert flighted by Macra last week indicated that Galaxy Radio was suspended from conducting live broadcasts for 30 days, effective April 30 this year, for broadcasting material deemed as indecent, insulting and amounting to hate speech contrary to Section 52 of the Communications Act.