A KBN TV EDITORIAL IN SELF DEFENSE
The UPND administration has become synonymous with a desperate regime that wants to capture every institution of governance and use them to silence dissenting voices.
They have done so shamelessly at the Registrar of Societies where they have defied both logic and law to impose Chabinga as a defacto PF leader.
They have captured the courts where judges can’t sign consent judgments. They think this is normal, they think that’s how to hold on to power. They captured the National Assembly where the Speaker is an extension of the executive. This is both immoral and illegal.
This is a regime that wants to do everything outside of the law, but is quick to fix anyone or any institution perceived not to be in agreement.
If that’s what “Bally will fix it” means, then Bally and his cohorts should be fixed out of power next year. We can’t affort to have a nation where illegalities become legal.
This is a government that sold our mines without parliamentary approvals and they want the citizens to clap or to be quiet. This is the regime that has ignored the Constitutional Court ruling that rendered Bill 7 unconstitutional, but has gone ahead to constitute a technical committee illegally using article 92 instead of the Inquiries Act.
As if that’s not enough, the regime has recircled Bill 7 and turned it into terms of reference for Constitutional amendments.
Having conquered all, it now seems their last arsenal is targeted at silencing critical media voices like ourselves here at KBN TV by turning the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) into a political tool they can deploy at their convenience.
We are not surprised that IBA has summoned us for a hearing tomorrow, 22nd October, 2025 at 09hrs over flimsy charges they are calling breaches.
We know IBA are professionals, but they are operating under very difficult circumstances and subjected to political pressure. We sympathise with them and we hope they will not become another compromised judiciary or another compromised ECZ or another compromised police service. We strongly refuse to become a compromised media house.
Ideally, as a media house, we are supposed to be speaking for others, but when we start speaking for ourselves, the nation must know it’s time to stand up for justice and democracy.
It’s very shocking that IBA in its letter of 29th September 2025, wrote to us over what it termed “Content Likely to Disrupt Public Order.” Guess what, this is in relation to a simple post on Malawi general elections in which President Peter Mutharika won the Presidency for the second time.
Anyone who watched the Electoral Commission of Malawi announcing the results would have known that Justice Anabel Mtalimanja, used the local language almost throughout the assignment.
Therefore, our 24th September Facebook post said “It’s admirablable how Malawians use their local language officially. Let’s try here, “alebwelelapo pamupando.” Contextually meaning, if we were using a Zambian local language, we would have said Mutharika, alebwelelapo pamupando.
Not withstanding the fact that IBA doesn’t regulate social media, it was shocking to see a letter from IBA citing that single line as having “the potential to stir up public emotions and disrupt public order and peace.”
We do not see anything in that vernacular line with the potential to disrupt public order and peace. If this is not politically motivated intimidation, then what is it?
The above came shortly after another letter dated 5th September, 2025 in which IBA accused KBN TV of falsehoods and hate speech after we exposed complaints of unfair dismissals at Football House in a story titled “Football House Tense Up in Tribal Purge.”
Again, this was an investigative expose’ which FAZ in a press statement, confirmed staff separation but refused to disclose the reasons.
Our investigation and editorial judgment met journalistic ethical standards and we were justified in publishing the said story, again, on our Facebook page and it didn’t warrant IBA’s interest.
In today’s letter dated 21st, October, 2025, essentially a summon for a hearing, among many breaches IBA has cited, is KBN TV’s discussion to question how the case involving Mariah Zaloumis, daughter to Electoral Commission of Zambia Chairperson, was hurriedly changed from murder to manslaughter and subsequently she along with her co accused were released on bail pending trial.
Meanwhile, there’s a case of the former ZRA Commissioner General, Dr. Kingsley Chanda, whose bail, pending appeal, has been rejected. He joins a long list of Chitotela, Chilangwa and Munir among others.
If the media can not discuss and critically analyse such matters, then who will?
Does IBA want KBN TV to stop talking in the face of such injustices. No, KBN TV will not and if keeping quiet and self censorship are the new requirements and qualifications for us to keep the IBA licence, then we probably don’t need it. IBA might as well start regulating Koswe
-KBN TV