Thursday, October 13, 2011

MISA MALAWI STATEMENT ON DEATH THREATS OVER CHASOWA STORY

13th October, 2011

For Immediate Release

The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is disturbed with reports that Nation Publications Limited (NPL) Journalist Phillip Pemba is receiving death threats over an article that revealed that Robert Chasowa had dealings with the police before he was murdered.

We are also disturbed with reports that the police summoned Weekend Nation
Editor George Kasakula and Malawi News Deputy Editor Innocent Chitosi of
Blantyre Newspapers Limited – papers that carried detailed insights into Chasowa’s death and dealings with the police – for questioning over recordings of the articles.

Pemba’s article, published in Weekend Nation of October 8, gave an insight into what could have led to Chasowa’s death and exposed his dealings with police to help stop the planned August 17 protests against government.

“One of the callers said they know where I stay and another one asked why
I mentioned the name of Inspector General of Police (IG Peter Mukhito) in my story. He said I will die over the story. They said I would have been safe if I left out the names of the police officers involved,” Pemba is quoted as saying in The Nation of Wednesday, October 12.

MISA Malawi considers these threats as well as the summoning of editors
Kasakula and Chitosi as deliberate attempts to muzzle journalists and instil fear in the media sorority. As always stated in our statements, these acts instil fear and curtail meaningful dialogue and debate on pertinent issues that affect our country, the murder of student Robert Chasowa for example.

These developments are barbaric, retrogressive and superfluous in an open and democratic Malawi and require collective condemnation.

We, therefore, call upon the authorities to openly condemn and call for thorough investigations into such threats. We also call upon the police to support and work with media in uncovering the truth about Chasowa’s death and not to intimidate and gag journalists. The media helps the country expose various ills that affect our country and summoning and intimidating them over the Chasowa article will only raise suspicions than answers.

We applaud the police for launching an investigation into Chasowa’s death.
MISA Malawi is, however, calling on IG Peter Mukhito to openly denounce such barbaric acts and for the law enforcers to protect journalists and indeed members of the public who are constantly receiving threats from unknown persons.

IG Peter Mukhito and Southern Region Police Commissioner Rodney Jose, who were both mentioned in the article by Pemba and subjects of the death threats, have chosen not to comment on the threats levelled against Pemba.

The article by Pemba indicated that Commissioner Jose took late Chasowa and his colleague to Lilongwe on August 7 to meet Mukhito over the deal to foil the August 17 demonstrations. The story revealed that the IG gave them Chivas Whisky and MK50, 000 each. Jose confirmed taking the group to Lilongwe to meet Mukhito.

MISA Malawi is, thus, appealing to the IG and Commissioner Jose to openly denounce the death threats on Pemba and summoning of editors whose papers published the insightful articles. Malawi Police is supposed to protect and ensure peace and security and should, therefore, condemn and distance itself from these death threats which are most likely tarnishing the image of the service and its top brass.

Finally, we appeal to journalists to be professional, alert and to openly report threats of any nature to relevant authorities.

Signed
Anthony Kasunda
MISA MALAWI CHAIRPERSON

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Dead Cannot Talk

By Francis Chuma

Your body was laid to rest the other day
We interred your remains:
The clothes you wore
Your shoes, the wrist watch
Still sticking to tell us endlessly
The changing of the seasons
The signs of the times

We buried your football skills
But we failed to bury your soul.
Your spirit lives on
Your passion for the wellbeing of our nation
Your zeal to stop the decomposition of our freedom
No zikwanje can hack to death
No stiletto can pierce to oblivion
No blow can hurl into the void of non-existence

The morning we found you
After the cloak of night opened up to shed light on the truth
The lie on which you lay bore no marks
No signs to shore up the official explanation
They say you left farewell notes
Yet the deed is not keeping with the strength of your spirit

Your pursuit for the truth
Your inability to suffer in silence
Threatened to derail the construction of private palaces
Shook the foundation best laid plans to keep it in family
But the Truth does not die.

They find comfort in the fact that the dead cannot talk
Cannot dispute the authenticity of farewell notes
Cannot disclose the duress under which the notes were written
It is sad the dead cannot talk

There will be no closure in this death
No end to the mourning
Each morning on the long queues of fuel
We will mourn
Each time bogus salaries are splashed on spouses for charity work
We will mourn
Each time we find no medicine in hospitals
We will mourn
Each time they threaten a journalist with death
We will mourn
Each time they set ablaze the abode of an activist
We will mourn
Each time they raze the markets
We will mourn
Each time appointments are made from one ethnic group only
We will mourn

Go well Dear Friend
We will ignore the farewell notes
They have failed to kill your spirit
These idiots.

Published under The Sunday Times Column: Mouthpiece on October 2, 2011.