Cops frame JB's son in theft charge
Mother eats sour grapes and the teeth of her offspring are on edge. This is what has happened to vice-president Joyce Banda and her son Geoffrey Kachale Banda.
In a repulsive turn of events, Malawi Broadcasting Cooperation Television (MBCTV) has cast its mud sliding net from attacking Vice-President Joyce Banda to her children.
MBCTV on Tuesday’s lunch edition of news accused Banda’s son, Geoffrey, of stealing crates of soft drinks from Chipiliro Wholesale in Bangwe through his workers.
Geoffrey in an interview with Nyasa Times dismissed the claims and said it was a set-up.
“I am not involved in the running of the bottle store; there is a manager there and I wonder why my I am being accused of something that I know nothing about,” Kachale informed.
He said that due to scarcity of soft drinks in Malawi, his shop manager had asked him for more money to buy enough drinks for the festive season.
“I gave him a cheque of K45,000 on top of the money that I gave him. I was surprised to get a call that the police wanted me because I had purchased stolen soft drinks.
“It surprises me that my name is being dragged in this whole mess which I believe a setup. Why should MBCTV air a story without enough facts? I own a shop and I cannot steal soft drinks,” he said, adding that if MBCTV had contacted him he would have told them the truth.
“It is just sad that this story has turned into another fight against my mother, it just a misunderstanding,” Kachale said.
National police spokesperson Davie Chingwalu confirmed quizzing the VP’s son but said the matter was being investigated.
A veteran journalist at the state broadcaster who opted for anonymity said MBCTV’s story lacked professionalism.
“I watched the story, it had no basis and no truth, and one could easily tell the aim was to tarnish someone’s image. It is sad that a state broadcaster has now turned on the veep’s family now that they have failed to oust her,” he said, adding that the television station had lost credibility.
Random interviews on the streets of Blantyre indicate that people were angry that MBCTV had waged war on Veep’s family.
“The poor woman has had enough; can’t MBCTV focus on development issues; what was the purpose of the story?” wondered Daisy Chikanda of Manja Township in Blantyre.
MBC has for the past year been reporting negative stories of the vice-president after her relationship with Mutharika turned sour as she refused to endorse Peter Mutharika as DPP’s torch bearer in 2014.
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