Malawi

Malawi, a landlocked Eastern African country of approximately 22.8 million people, operates a state media architecture concentrated in two institutions: a statutory public broadcaster and a state news agency embedded within the supervising ministry. The country’s media-regulatory framework rests on the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi (1994), which guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of the press, alongside the Communications Act 2016, which establishes the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) as the country’s independent broadcasting and communications regulator and provides a public-service mandate for the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). Two further laws shape the digital sector: the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act 2016, and the Access to Information Act 2017, which took effect in September 2020 after a long delay and was identified by Reporters Without Borders as a positive turning point for press freedom in the country. The crime of sedition was repealed in 2023, but posting “offensive” messages online remains punishable by imprisonment under the 2016 cybersecurity law, and the law on protected places continues to restrict journalist access to certain areas.

State media in Malawi is concentrated in two institutions. The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), founded in 1964 at independence, is Malawi’s statutory public broadcaster and a state-owned enterprise (SOE) under the Communications Act 2016, operating MBC TV, Radio 1, and Radio 2 FM with a national broadcasting mandate, although recent Ministry of Finance SOE reporting records reduced transmission coverage and gaps in service in some areas. The Malawi News Agency (MANA), founded in 1966, is the country’s state news agency, structurally not a corporation but a section embedded within the Department of Information of the supervising Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, with offices in all 28 districts of Malawi and a national wire service distributed to subscriber media houses. Both outlets sit under MICT, headed since 30 October 2025 by Cabinet Minister Shadrick Namalomba of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with Harold Msusa as Principal Secretary. The MACRA Director General is Mayamiko Nkoloma, confirmed in post on 8 March 2026 following the dismissal of his predecessor Daud Suleman in February 2026 over alleged interference in election-night results coverage.

The 2024–2026 period was defined by Malawi’s 16 September 2025 general election, which produced a 76.4% voter turnout and a decisive return of Peter Mutharika and the DPP, with Mutharika securing approximately 56.8% of the presidential vote against incumbent Lazarus Chakwera’s approximately 33%. Mutharika was sworn in at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on 4 October 2025 under the theme “A Return to Proven Leadership: Building Malawi Together.” The election cycle was, however, marked by sustained pressure on independent journalism: MISA Malawi documented“a surge in attacks” on journalists “that went largely unpunished despite government pledges to protect press freedom,” and confirmed in its end-of-year 2025 assessment that MBC “favoured the then ruling party [MCP] and failed to be fair to the opposition parties.” On 10 October 2025, men identified as DPP sympathisers stormed MBC’s Kwacha House premises in Blantyre, forced Director General George Kasakula to deliver a live on-air apology to President Mutharika, then physically removed him from the premises, a televised assault on the state broadcaster that crystallised concerns about political interference in media operations. Kasakula was suspended, then dismissed by the MBC Board on 17 February 2026, and replaced by Brian Banda on 16 March 2026 following two acting directorships (Arthur Chipenda, then Moses Chiwoni). Reporters Without Borders ranked Malawi 69 / 180 in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, an improvement of 7 places from 76 / 180 in 2025, reflecting the peaceful electoral transition, but a deterioration of 6 places from 63 / 180 in 2024. The World Bank’s December 2025 Public Finance Review identified Malawi’s state-owned enterprises, MBC included, as a growing source of fiscal risk, with weak governance, repeated bailouts, and political interference now formal targets of the Mutharika administration’s reform agenda.

Media profiles