Richard Chimwendo Banda, Secretary General of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Minister of Local Government, has found himself at the center of a social media storm after posting allegedly misleading photos of road construction on Facebook.
The controversy began on Wednesday evening when Chimwendo Banda shared images claiming they depicted a road under construction in Malawi, accompanied by the caption, “The real meaning of kutchaya kugwetsa. Zikomo Dr Chakwera.”
However, eagle-eyed netizens quickly pointed out that the photos seemed to be from India, not Malawi with one commenter stating, “Ndinu anduna (you are a minister) please stop cheap lies. This is not Malawi Honourable Minister. Asiyileni Ana osowa zochitawa azinama (Leave this propaganda to your boys)”
This prompted Chimwendo Banda to delete the post and on Thursday morning he replace it with new images, which he claimed were from Malawi. In the revised caption, he wrote, “Atipha ndi chitukuko Dr Lazarus Chakwera. This is Malawi and not India nde ngati ndinaphonya chithunzi zinthu izi zikufana wamva iwe my dear sister Gitta asiye awo asova.”
The incident has sparked a broader conversation about the responsibility of public figures to verify information before sharing it on social media. With Malawi’s political landscape increasingly shifting, the need for transparency and accountability from leaders remains crucial.
