MACRA harass Capital FM over Straight Talk

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has summoned Capital FM, owned by Aladin Osman, to carpet them over its hard-hitting flagship interview programme, Straight Talk.

The programme host Brian Banda also claimed he has been receiving threats after interviewing Harry Mkandawire, deputy secretary general of opposition People’s Party.

“I only Interviewed Harry Mkandawire I did not tell him what to say, if you didnt like what he said then that is for you to deal with, dont intimidate me mwamva!” Banda posted on his Facebook page.

Brian Banda: Straight Talk host

He later updated his status to inform that the regulator has summoned the closely-held broadcaster over the interview of Mkandawire.

“We have been summoned to appear before Macra over the same programme on Tuesday.”

Harry’s blast

During the interview, Mkandawire blasted President Bingu wa Mutharika and his brother, the foreign minister Peter Mutharika, to the extent that he claimed there were doubts over Peter Mutharika’s Malawian citizenship.

He said Peter is holding the American citizenship.

“This man (Peter Mutharika) maybe holding a dual citizenship,” said Mkandawire in the Straight Talk  which consists of in-depth half-hour one-on-one interview.

He further accused the Mutharika brothers of being out of sync with the life of impoverished Malawians because they have lived most of their lives in the diaspora and called them ‘Matchona’.

Mkandawire also called Mutharika the worse leader Malawi has had.

“He has proved to be the worse leader amongst the four – the colonial master, Kamuzu Banda snd Bakili Muluzi,” said Mkandawire who wasa close ally to Mutharika before the fell out after he criticised the President on nepotism.

Social political commentator, Isaac Cheke Ziba, has condemned the actions by Macra to gag the media.

“The more oppression we get for airing out our views, as a people, the more desire gets generated to air those views out. Why can people not spend their energies scheming goodness and progress other scheming oppression and trying to tame people into captivity?

“Harry Mkandawire is enti.tled to his opinions and the media houses in Malawi have a duty to help people express their opinions. This will stop because it does sound evil and with Martin Luther King Jr, I do believe that ‘anything evil carries within it a seed of its own destruction’.”

Macra sources say the regulator is is merely looking for an excuse to close the station.

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