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| National |
| Journalists body condemns EC spokesman’s actions |
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by
Juliet Chimwaga, 18 August 2004
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16:40:28
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The National Institute for Southern Africa (Namisa) on Tuesday condemned the conduct of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) spokesman Fegus Lipenga who shouted at a Capital Radio reporter during an interview on Monday.
Lipenga was angry with Capital Radio reporter Brian Banda during an interview, accusing the radio of coming up with programmes where members of the public heavily criticised the commission on the way it conducted the May 20 general elections.
Lipenga threatened to “cut” business with Capital Radio because of the programmes that bash the commission.
Namisa said in a statement signed by vice chairman Mc Donald Chapalapata that Lipenga’s conduct is uncalled for.
“As a spokesman of MEC, Lipenga should know that the Commission, being a public entity, is open to public scrutiny. He should accept criticism so that MEC performs to the expectations of the masses,” said Chapalapata.
Chapalapata said Capital Radio was not wrong in coming up with programmes that allow people to express views on any subject including the performance of the MEC.
“We would like to ask Lipenga to accept that this is a new era of transparency and accountability,” he added.
When asked to comment on the issue, Lipenga defended himself saying he behaved that way because the reporter called him while he was in a queue in a bank.
“I asked him to call me after a few minutes but he persisted and this aroused my anger,” said Lipenga.
Lipenga said Capital Radio should teach its reporters to exercise professionalism when conducting their job.
“We as MEC know that we are supposed to give information to the media since it is the freedom of the public to know but this should be done in the right way,” Lipenga said.
When asked to comment on Lipenga’s conduct with the Capital Radio, Special Assistant of MEC Chairman Willie Kalonga said although the MEC is not supposed to hide information, the media should not take this for granted.
“It was wrong to force him to give out information when he wasn’t ready,” Kalonga said, adding that the reporter could easily have called again after the few minutes that Lipenga asked him for.
Commenting on the incident, Banda said he does not understand why Lipenga, who has been so cooperative all along, decided to respond that way.
“He told us to call another official who is out of the country now, saying he could not respond to us and he no longer wants to talk to us,” said Banda.
Banda said Lipenga shouted at him when he was seeking MEC’s view on the restructuring of the commission, following a news-talk programme on the radio on Friday where people preferred the change of the commission’s structure.
Namisa has appealed to all people in public bodies and even the private sector to cooperate with journalists for the benefit of all, according to Chapalapata.
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