From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:MALAWI: GLASSNOST BANDA-STYLE
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 23:49:14 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Environment
Title: MALAWI: GLASSNOST BANDA-STYLE


blantyre, malawi, jan 14 (ips/obinna anyadike) -- president
hastings banda has declared that there is freedom of the press
in this central african country.

as proof, government officials point to the fact that
sentences for journalists under the loose definition of
defamation of the authorities has this month been reduced from
life imprisonment to five years.

under pressure from both the donors to open-up and an
increasingly bold opposition challenging the government in a
referendum on multipartyism scheduled for march, glassnost
banda-style is a brand apart.

managing editor alaudin osman of the financial post, a path-
breaking independent weekly, points out that the stumbling
blocks are more than just the defamation law.

''the police are overzealous, i have received threats from top
policemen in this country. most of us are patriotic law-abiding
citizens very concerned that this country moves forward in a
peaceful manner, but it seems that the police don't appreciate
that'', he told ips.

editor felix mponda was arrested jan. 2 at the airport in
the capital, lilongwe, when he attempted to bring in 20,000
issues of his paper the 'new express' printed in neigbouring
zambia.

he has not been charged. there is some confusion over whether
he is being held for an interview he ran recently on released
political detainee machapisa mutari -- imprisoned for 27 years
-- or importing an unlicensed vernacular newspaper also printed
in zambia unique in its implacable opposition to the government.

co-editor willy zingani believes the reason is the former.
''the president said there was freedom of the press in this
country. what do they mean if a journalist is picked up because
he interviewed machapisa mutari? either i am excepted as a
journalist or i am not, but i won't compromise''.

there are two ''official'' newspapers in the country, the
'daily times' and the weekly 'malawi news'. privately-owned by
blantyre newspapers, the shareholders in the company happen to
include banda and senior members of the government.

until february last year and the arrival of the fortnightly
'financial post' -- initially only concerned with business
reporting -- these bland and sycophantic papers provided
malawians with their only source of news.

osman notes that there has never been a tradition of a vibrant
press. malawi was a british colonial backwater, and with
independence in 1964, it passed under the ridgid political
control of banda. (more/ips)


malawi: glassnost (2)

but times are changing. last march the catholic bishops
produced a pastoral letter calling for political reforms. it was
followed by the demand for multipartyism by trade unionist
chakufwa chihana and his arrest in april, and the unprecedented
erruption of wildcat strikes and protest in support in may.

now, banda has proposed a referendum on pluralism. after
28 years of single-party rule by the nonaganarian self-declared
life president, it is this change in the wind that the
independent publications are trying, tentatively, to reflect.

there are three independent papers, established last year,
which are increasingly tackling what are considered sensitive
issues here -- from the state of the health service to giving a
voice to the opposition -- while six more new publications are
waiting in the wings.

according to one western diplomat, there is a cumulative
advance by the press in pushing back the barrier of what they
can get away with.

''the main point of the government is yes, they can tolerate
more freedom but it has to be 'responsible' and 'objective',
there are certain limits'', he told ips.

what this means in effect is a great deal of self-
censorship over both the content and the tone of the press.

but there is another drawback. ''the atmosphere is suddenly
condusive to publishing. everybody is keen but nobody has the
means because of the lack of printing presses'', says osman.

there is only one modern newspaper printing press in the
country that is owned by blantyre printing and publishing group
whose subsidiary is blantyre newspapers.

''they will not print the opposition papers, that is why we
printed in zambia'', says zingani.

for osman, the squeeze came last august when the printing
costs of his 15,000 copies were suddenly trippled. he along with
other papers now use an antiquated press owned by the catholic
church.

it is not only slow -- forcing the papers to go monthly -- but
expensive and, with the church preferring not to be directly
linked to voices of dissent, ''again we are forced to censor
ourselves'', notes osman. ''but we must exist and exist
vigorously''.

watching the scramble when any of the independent papers
manages to hit the streets, it is clear they are filling a
vacuum in a country hungry for news. (end/ips/oa/93)
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