Questions grow over Malawi’s social media monitoring system amid oversight concerns

Seven Ghanaian technicians arrived at a hilltop site overlooking Malawi’s commercial capital Blantyre in January 2025 to install a social media monitoring system commissioned by the country’s telecoms regulator, in a deal now under scrutiny more than a year later.

The system was installed at a former state telecoms facility under a $1.5 million contract awarded to Ghana-based Hashcom Ghana Limited by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), according to procurement records.

The platform was designed to monitor misinformation and disinformation on Facebook, X and LinkedIn.

The contract was awarded just 15 days before installation began, and less than eight months before Malawi’s general election on September 16, 2025.

Civil society groups challenged the legality of the procurement at the time and called for its suspension.

Parliament reviewed the matter but issued no binding directive, while the Malawi Human Rights Commission opened an inquiry before later dropping it.

A request for presidential intervention also went unanswered.

The system was installed despite the objections.

More than a year on, no publicly available document shows whether the platform was fully operational during the election, what data it collected, who had access to it, or whether any independent oversight was in place.

Neither MACRA, the human rights commission nor parliament’s communications committee has published findings on the matter.

MACRA said in a written response that it could not comment while an audit was under way.

“MACRA is currently undergoing an audit, and the matter in question forms part of that audit process. It would therefore be appropriate to await the final audit report before providing a response,” MACRA communications manager Clara Ngwira said.

Independence questioned

MACRA was established in 1998 as an independent regulator following the break-up of the former state telecoms operator.

But researcher Murendehle Juwayeyi said rules governing presidential appointments to its board gave the executive significant influence over the regulator.

Concerns over MACRA’s monitoring powers predate the current contract.

A separate system intended to enable lawful interception of communications was challenged in court in 2011 by a private citizen.

The High Court initially blocked it, but the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned that ruling in 2017, allowing the system to proceed while barring the interception of private communications content.

Contract questioned from the start

The Hashcom deal attracted criticism as soon as it was announced in September 2024.

Digital Governance Associates Malawi, a civil society group, questioned the company’s technical capacity and called for greater transparency in a letter sent to the ombudsman, the human rights commission and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA).

Hashcom’s principal, Baba Halidu Musa, was seen among the technicians during installation. Media reports have linked him to another company, Bahamus, which reportedly supplies Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA).

Ghana’s High Court ruled in 2022 that the NCA had unlawfully procured Pegasus spyware from Israel’s NSO Group, a case that led to criminal convictions of former officials. Nyasa Times found no evidence linking Hashcom to that procurement.

MACRA’s former director general, Daud Suleman, said the system was intended only to monitor publicly available content. Legal affairs director Thokozani Chimbe said the procurement complied with public procurement laws.

MACRA had projected the system would generate at least $7.8 million in revenue by the end of March 2025, though it has not said whether that target was met.

No independent review

The PPDA said it never reviewed or approved the contract, as the deal fell within a threshold allowing MACRA to procure goods worth up to $2.9 million on its own authority.

“This procurement was not exempted. It was within the threshold of MACRA’s Internal Procurement and Disposal Committee to proceed with the contract award,” PPDA spokeswoman Mandy Pondani said, adding that no assessment was made of pricing, supplier suitability or compliance.

Contractor says its role is complete

Hashcom said it had fulfilled its obligations by supplying, installing and handing over the system, with responsibility for its operation now resting with MACRA.

Office manager Susan Tay said confidentiality clauses prevented the company from disclosing further technical details without MACRA’s authorisation, but that it remained willing to provide clarification through formal channels.

More than a year after the system’s installation, questions over its operation, oversight and safeguards remain unanswered.

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