State House press officer under fire for harassing media

One of the Malawi’s State House press officers Sylvester Namiwa is currently under fire from his seniors for ill-treating journalists during President Peter Mutharika’s news conference.

Mutharika’s press secretary Fredrick Ndala summoned Namiwa on Friday in relation to a letter from one of the concerned journalists Charles Sitima, a sub-editor for Radio Maria Malawi.

In an email which Nyasa Times has seen, Sitima lamented over Namiwa’s conduct of harassing the media despite being a trained journalist himself.

“I would like to register [concern] over the recent conduct of Mr. Namiwa on how he has been handling the media. I have been hearing from the media circles about how hash he treats members of the media fraternity during their visits at State House therefore I have decided to blow the whistle instead of mongering as how others are doing with the hope that the problem will be ratified,” Sitima wrote.

In an email Sitima highlighted two key issues which he said has baffled members of the press in the way the former Galaxy Radio’s employee has been handling his colleagues from the media.

Namiwa has been accused of for harshly treating the media personnel dully invited to attend Mutharika’s press briefings and of being bias over media house selection.

He is also accused of having “his own cartel of media houses which he prefers to work with and he has no audacity to consider inviting others”.

Namiwa was hired by Mutharika following his good job at Galaxy radio where he vigorously campaigned for DPP and its candidature but also castigated the former president Joyce Banda and her family.