/ 27 June 2001

MALAWIAN EDITOR DIES

VETERAN journalist and editor of the Malawi News, Horace Somanje, was buried in Blantyre on Monday after he died on Saturday following a short illness. The Journalists Association of Malawi (Jama) said Somanje’s death was a great loss to the nation and the journalism fraternity. He was founding chairman of JAMA and contributed to the training of many journalists currently practising in the country. “He will be remembered for his powerful weekly column ‘Insight’ which he wrote without fear or favour,” reads a statement from Jama. Somanje, once a Member of Parliament, turned himself over to police in 1999 to spend two days in prison with reporter Mabvuto Banda who was arrested for critical reports after the controversial June 15, 1999 general elections. The charges were dropped last year. – African Eye News Service