Editor suspended over govt criticism

Malawi's oldest newspaper house, Blantyre Newspapers Limited, (BNL) has suspended its leading editor apparently for criticising government over-expenditure. Jika Mkolokosa, managing editor of BNL, publishers of The Daily Times and Malawi News told IRIN on Tuesday that he had been suspended allegedly for writing negative stories about President Bakili Muluzi and not featuring him on the front page. "The boss never called me up to hear my story. [If he had called me] I would have been able to defend myself. But I wasn't given the opportunity," he said. Mark Chiusankhondo, financial controller for BNL told IRIN that Mkolokosa was suspended purely as a disciplinary measure because he flouted regulations contained in "clearly stipulated" editorial policy. Chiusankhondo said after Mkolokosa had been warned, he had filled the front page of a subsequent edition with the same "unbalanced material" against an editorial policy that stated that the publication "shall not be used as a tool to persecute an individual". Mkolokosa had worked for BNL, owned by the late previous president Kamuzu Banda and his family's Chayamba Trust, for 11 months. Banda had ruled Malawi as a single party state for three decades. "Editors are working in a subdued environment," said Charles Simango, editor of Malawi News. Malawi News recently reported that Muluzi had spent US $2,4 million in four months for both internal and external travel and allegedly mostly for in-country campaigns for his "unofficial" bid for a third term of office. Mkolokosa, a former editor of Nation Publications Limited owned by Agriculture Minister Aleke Banda, argued that it was too late to change or withdraw the stories by the time he was cautioned that executive chairman, Cassim Chilumpha was "mad with the stories" published by the two papers. "It was unrealistic to change stories at that late hour," he said, adding that he had planned to implement the instruction the following week. Mkolokosa said he was very surprised with the decision taken by Chilumpha, a former attorney-general and later finance minister in the Muluzi government. "I intend to make it clear when I go back that I'll not be willing to run sanitised stories. I don't think it will do any credit to my professionalism to accept a job that will not make me happy. I didn't expect things would be this bad, but things of this nature are expected with this job," he said. Rogers Newa, chairman of the Human Rights Consultative Committee issued a statement in support of Mkolokosa saying: "His suspension is tantamount to intimidation by the state and a threat to the freedom of expression. It also denies all Malawians their right to hear alternate views about the events in their own country. This suspension is a threat to Malawi's embryonic democracy." Last year BNL fired Daily Times editor Rankin Nyekanyeka for not featuring Muluzi on the front page of the newspaper. "The government should not perceive constructive criticism as a danger to their stay in power, but view it as a tool for promoting transparency, accountability and the rule of Law," Newa added. Criticism over government expenditure comes amid International Monetary Fund (IMF) scrutiny of the country's budget in order to release much-needed development funds.