Media Institute of Southern Africa (Windhoek)
9 June 2008
press release
On 7 June 2008, Machinga District Commissioner (DC) Lawrence Makonokaya mistreated Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) correspondent Wyford Banda. The incident occurred when the latter sought the DC's comments on the arrest of people involved in a fight with the police over participation in the Malawi Housing and Population Census. It took place at around 6:00 p.m. (local time) at the Ntaja police station, situated in the southern district of Machinga.
The group was arrested for beating enumerators of the ongoing Malawi Population and Housing Census, claiming that the DC's office had not followed due process in engaging the enumerators.
According to Banda, Makonokaya aggressively shoved him around in the presence of Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Ellock Maotcha Banda, who is also a Member of Parliament for the area, and other police officers. Banda said the DC also intimidated him the following day, asking why Banda had reported the matter to ZBS management instead of sorting out the issue between the two of them.
Makonokaya claims he only held Banda by the shoulder and asked him to contact him later as he did not have information readily available. He confirmed asking Banda why he reported the matter to his employers, adding that he has since banned the correspondent from seeking information from his office.
MISA-Malawi condemns Makonokaya's conduct. MISA-Malawi's national director, Innocent Chitosi, said Makonokaya's behaviour does not befit a public officer. He also said Makonokaya is just a custodian of information and therefore has no right to determine who is entitled to receive it.
BACKGROUND:
On 2 June 2008, a group of men and women marched to the DC's office and presented a petition, condemning what it termed as corrupt practices involving census preparations in the district. According to the petition, the DC had insulted qualified individuals in the district by citing a high illiteracy rate as one of the reasons why people from other districts were hired as enumerators for Machinga district.
MORE INFORMATION:
For further information, contact Kaitira Kandjii, Regional Director, Rashweat Mukundu, Programme Specialist, or Chilombo Katukula, Media Freedom Monitoring and Research Officer, MISA, Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232 975, fax: +264 61 248 016, e-mail: director@misa.org, research@misa.org, rashweat@misa.org, chilombo@misa.org, Internet: http://www.misa.org
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Media Institute of Southern Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
