Kyungu demands apology from Malawi newspaper on federalism

Paramount Chief Kyungu of Karonga has demanded an apology from Nations Publications Limited (NPL) for being misquoted in one of the stories that appeared in its daily title, The Nation newspaper.

Kyungu has also demanded retraction of an article which claims he has backtracked from his earlier comments on federalism.

Some months ago Paramount Chief Kyungu rubbished calls for federalism, arguing those supporting the idea missed the timing.

However, recently The Nation quoted Kyungu supporting the idea.

In an interview with MBCtv, Kyungu dismissed the article, labelling it as “character assassination.”

“My stand on federalism remains the same as few months ago. I haven’t changed my mind. I call that story as character assassination,” said Kyungu.

He retaliated that Malawi is better off as one nation and warned those propagating for federalism that the country has a lot to lose if the system is implemented.

“To me it sounds suicidal; we should have started talking of federalism before independence or multi-party system. But now it will be disastrous,” warned Kyungu.

President Peter Mutharika said it’s up to Malawians to decide on whether to adopt federal system of government or not.

Government says it will call for referendum if the need be for people to decide on the issue.