Emotional Mutharika struggles for words as he mourns “close friend” Brian Banda

A visibly emotional President Peter Mutharika laid bare his own personal heartbreak today, paying tribute to beloved media icon Brian Banda — revealing the broadcasting legend was a close personal friend as he touched down from South Africa on Saturday.

Banda, who was buried just last week after his sudden death, leaves behind a legacy that spanned decades on Malawi’s airwaves — rising from humble beginnings at Capital FM, through Times Media, to the very top as Director General of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation.

Struggling to find the words to capture the scale of the loss, a clearly moved Mutharika described Banda’s death as “deeply painful” — a rare and striking display of raw emotion from the Head of State.

The President’s heartfelt tribute has struck a powerful chord with a nation already grieving a man whose voice became a familiar, comforting presence in homes across Malawi for years.

Tributes have continued to flood in from across the media industry and beyond, with Banda remembered not simply as a towering figure of Malawian broadcasting, but as a man whose warmth and presence reached far beyond the studio walls.

And as the President himself admitted, Banda leaves behind a void that will be desperately hard to fill.