The National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust in Dowa has called on journalists in the district to provide the communities with credible information and investigate corruption issues on projects so that they hold the authorities accountable.
The Trust will be implementing a 3-year European Union (EU) funded Boma Lathu Programme which will be giving support to the media in the district on investigative journalism and reporting to encourage citizens to demand accountability.
The program is supporting Nice to sensitize the communities on voter education, accountability, human rights, and mobilization for citizen participation in decision-making and national development.
Speaking during a day-long drilling workshop held at Mponela in the district, Dowa Nice district Civic Education Expert, Alinafe Chikakuda, said the program will contribute to strengthening democratic governance and the social contract in Malawi.
Chikakuda said the Nice Trust will support the delivery of nationwide civic education and increase participation for women, youth, and disadvantaged groups in democratic processes, saying through investigative journalism, the media acts as a powerful watchdog, uncovering corrupt practices, holding the powerful accountable, and fostering public awareness.
“The media is the provider of reliable information, watchdog, platform for democratic discourse, and mirror of diversity in society hence the need to empower the journalists with the necessary resources,” she said.
She expressed her commitment to working with the media in the district for them to operate in a very professional and ethical manner to help the communities get reliable information and be able to demand accountability from duty bearers.
One of the participants, Kondwani Kandiado of the Nation Publications Limited, described the workshop as an eye opener to journalists in the district, as they are now aware of the core areas of reporting stories.
He urged fellow journalists to play a pivotal role in writing stories that will benefit the marginalized communities as well as hold duty bearers accountable and at the same time, bring development to areas that cannot easily be reached by the authorities.
