A WEB

On 4 May 2024, the Malawi Electoral Commission joined media practitioners in the country to celebrate World Press Freedom Day during a gala dinner and panel discussion held in Mangochi to commemorate the day.

The events took place with precisely 500 days to go to Tuesday, 16 September 2025, when Malawians will go to the polls to elect the State President, Members of Parliament and Ward Councillors, hence the theme.

In Malawi the 2024 WPFD was celebrated under the theme, “Guardians of Democracy: Championing Media Independence for Credible Elections” and Chairman of the Media, Civic and Voter Education Committee, Commissioner Francis Kasaila delivered a keynote address at the gala dinner.

In his keynote address at the gala dinner climaxing the celebrations, Commissioner Kasaila noted that the theme was a call for everyone to reflect on the importance of a free, independent, pluralistic, and diverse media, in building a vibrant and resilient democracy.

“At the same time, the theme also calls on the media players to reflect on their role in facilitating the conduct of free and fair elections by being seen to be providing fair and equal media attention on candidates and their manifestos.

“Your role in informing, educating and even acting as a watchdog helps greatly in ensuring that our systems are efficient, effective and most importantly, adhering to the legal frameworks governing elections,” he said.

Commissioner Kasaila also noted that the media played a crucial role in elections by ensuring that the voters were well-informed and motivated to participate in the various electoral processes.

“It is against this background that we need an open, free and independent media to constantly inform the electorate about the various electoral processes, their rights and responsibilities; a media that can build an informed and motivated citizenry that is willing to participate in the various electoral processes.

“Your constant and good coverage of electoral events and activities has helped to build awareness about elections in the past, and we expect stepped-up efforts as we prepare for the 2025 General Elections,” he said.

The Commissioner announced that the electoral body was working for a high voter turnout for 2025  and the media needed to support this.

“The Commission relies on you to help educate the public on the changes. On our part as a Commission, we appreciate the fact that the media cannot give out what they do not have, and that is why we prioritized the media in all its briefings about the new electoral laws and preparations for the 2025 General Election.

“The Commission has embarked on a nationwide awareness campaign by holding meetings in all the councils, and journalists have been included as participants. By the end of this exercise, we expect to reach out to over 300 journalists in the country,” he said.

Earlier in the day there was a panel discussion on the theme “Is the Malawi Media Free and independent to contribute to free and credible elections?” whereby the MEC Director of media and Public Relations participated as a panelist.

The WPFD is set aside by the United Nations to celebrate and reflect on the role the media plays in various spheres of the society more especially in fostering democracy, good governance and accountability.