Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) on Monday conducted a one day media workshop on pricing of petroleum products.
Speaking with reporters on the side-lines of the workshop in Salima, CAMA Executive Director John Kapito said private companies such as Total and Simsol are the only players that have power to reduce and increase prices of petroleum products.
“Government intervenes only when the markets fails to meet optimal prices and quantities more especially when there is an increase of the petroleum products such as fuel so that buyers can be able to buy the products.
“Do not be deceived, even politicians have no powers when it comes to fuel hikes,” he explained.
He went on to say that international trends affects local petroleum pricing levels and also economic growth.
During a presentation at the workshop, media trainer Grey Mang’anda said covering of fuel pricing needs well informed reporters since misinformation can lead to panic as the country’s economy depends on transport.
Mang’anda also noted that misinformation from journalists is a great disservice to the consumers who rely on the media to be informed.
However, journalists asked for more media workshops to understand the petroleum products pricing in order to feed the public accurate information.
