George Kasakula, director general of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. (Facebook)
On a bright October 2025 morning, viewers of Malawi’s state broadcaster watched a scene that appeared theatrical — until its coercive undertone became unmistakable.
George Kasakula, director general of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), looked into the camera and apologised to President Peter Mutharika for remarks he had made about him and his political candidature.
Then came the line that made the nation recoil: “Malawians have voted for him — millions of them.”
Within hours, the footage spread across social media. The stiff delivery and minimal script prompted widespread suspicion that the apology had been forced.
Accounts from inside MBC’s Blantyre headquarters later confirmed those fears. Kasakula, witnesses said, had been taken from his office and compelled to deliver the live statement.
According to several employees, a group of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters entered the broadcaster’s premises around 10am on 9 October 2025.
They confronted Kasakula, ordered him to collect his belongings, and escorted him to the studio. There, under pressure, he read a brief apology broadcast nationwide.
Police announced the arrest of two men, Yonah Green Malunga and Stone Mwamadi, in connection with the incident. Both were seen in public later the same day, raising questions about the credibility of the investigation.
Mwamadi’s football club, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, subsequently suspended him, pending internal investigations.
DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba described the apology as “an open admission of wrongdoing” and urged MBC’s board to take disciplinary action. To many Malawians, however, the broadcast appeared to be an act of intimidation, rather than accountability.
“This was humiliation achieved through coercion,” said one MBC staff member, who witnessed the incident. “He didn’t look apologetic — he looked cornered.”
Writer and commentator Onjezani Kenani alleged that seven men participated in the raid.
Police have yet to release a detailed statement or security footage from MBC’s cameras.
Kasakula’s forced apology was more than a personal humiliation. It marked the latest episode in a protracted political and legal struggle that has tested the resilience of Malawi’s democracy and its media freedom.
Kasakula also issued an apology in January 2019, this time written, not televised, to the same man now returning to prominence — Peter Mutharika, who won his third presidential term in the elections held on 16 September 2025. That retraction ended a five-year defamation case, when Kasakula, then a newspaper columnist, published an article in Malawi 24 titled, “Is Mutharika a drunkard or Just plain stupid?”
The column ridiculed Mutharika’s leadership and decision-making. His lawyers responded with a defamation suit demanding K500 million — a sum large enough to financially cripple almost any journalist or media outlet in Malawi.
The case lingered for years, unresolved but persistent. When Mutharika lost the 2020 election, it seemed the threat might recede. Instead, it followed Kasakula into public office.
In 2021, the administration of President Lazarus Chakwera appointed him to lead the MBC, the very broadcaster he had previously criticised for political bias. The defamation suit, however, remained active.
Under growing financial and political pressure, Kasakula eventually retracted his 2019 article, calling it “based on hearsay and therefore unprofessional”. He apologised for causing Mutharika “great pain, ridicule, and embarrassment”. Mutharika subsequently withdrew the case.
For Mutharika’s camp, the outcome was a vindication. For the press, it was a capitulation.
“This is a betrayal of journalism,” said Golden Matonga, chairperson of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa)-Malawi. “You don’t need to win the case — just file a huge one and wait for the journalist to break.”
What Matonga described is known as “lawfare”, or more precisely, a SLAPP — strategic lawsuit against public participation.
Across the world, such lawsuits sap the time, resources and morale of journalists and activists. In Malawi, where many reporters earn less than $300 a month, the threat of such legal action alone is often enough to deter critical reporting.
Law professor Dr Garton Kamchedzera described Kasakula’s situation as a cautionary example: “He was caught between personal ruin and political expectation. His apology, coerced or not, demonstrates that even the head of a state broadcaster can be made to kneel. That undermines the very concept of press independence.”
Malawi’s legal framework provides limited protection for journalists under such pressure. Defamation remains a civil offence carrying potentially crippling damages. Legislative proposals to cap payouts or protect public-interest reporting have stalled in parliament for years.
When Kasakula was appointed to MBC in 2021, he was viewed as a reformist, a critic given the chance to professionalise the state broadcaster. But the events of 2024 and 2025 largely extinguished that optimism.
Inside MBC, employees now describe an atmosphere of fear and fatigue. The broadcaster remains central to Malawi’s information ecosystem but vulnerable to political interference.
Control of its editorial direction has long been seen as a strategic prize for ruling parties.
The 9 October raid exposed the depth of that vulnerability and raised urgent questions: How did party loyalists gain entry to a secure government facility? And who authorised the broadcast? No official answers have yet been provided.
The repercussions were swift. Media watchdogs warned that Kasakula’s televised apology served as a warning to every journalist in the country.
“When the head of a state broadcaster can be dragged before a camera and made to repent, everyone else understands the message,” said a veteran Blantyre editor. “You no longer need censorship — the fear does it for you.”
Malawi’s ranking on the World Press Freedom Index improved to 62nd in 2023, supported by a period of political calm and greater access to information. The Kasakula affair threatens to reverse that progress.
Misa and other organisations have called for an independent inquiry into both the 9 October raid and the long-standing political influence at MBC.
The DPP had accused MBC under Kasakula’s leadership of bias against the party, citing unbalanced coverage and partisan commentary. Critics argue that such grievances cannot justify storming a newsroom or forcing a public confession.
MBC faces a moment of reckoning. Its disciplinary committee must review allegations of editorial bias without legitimising intimidation. Transparency will be essential to restoring credibility.
The communications regulator Macra and Misa-Malawi have urged parliament to strengthen laws guaranteeing the independence of public media and to ensure full disclosure of all complaints involving Mutharika.
Reform will be difficult. Malawi’s journalists work in precarious conditions, poorly paid, legally exposed and politically vulnerable. Yet their reporting remains a vital defence for a democracy still consolidating its foundations.
Kasakula’s case stands as both a symbol and a warning. His written apology brought him legal relief; his televised one stripped him of dignity. The lesson is stark — when power can dictate repentance, freedom itself is at risk.