In today front-page article, the Nation Newspaper reported on the Afrobarometer report “Africa Insights 2024: Democracy at Risk, The People’s Perspective,” claiming that “89% Feel Malawi on Wrong Path.” However, this sensational headline is a clear case of distorting the facts and misrepresenting the context of the original report.
Firstly, it’s crucial to understand that the Afrobarometer report that the Newspaper has referred to is a transnational African study which was launched in Accra – Ghana, not a Malawi-specific report. While it does include data from Malawi’s Afrobarometer that was citing the 89% figure findings, the report on declining democracy and rule of law cited by the newspaper is an overall African trend, not exclusive to Malawi. By failing to provide this vital context, the newspaper has led readers to believe this is a new and worsening sentiment specifically about Malawi, when in reality, it represents a broader African perspective.
In proper context, the report, for instance, reads: “Most Africans still prefer democracy to any other system of government, reject non-democratic alternatives, and endorse core democratic norms, institutions, and practices. But some cracks are showing in the bulwark of democratic support. Over the past decade, popular support for democracy has declined sharply in several countries, including some of the continent’s current or former democratic leaders. And popular opposition to military rule has weakened across the continent; more than half of Africans say military intervention is acceptable ‘when elected leaders abuse power for their own ends’.”
As you can see, this represents the African perspective. Apparently, this aspect of study was, in our view, incited by the military coups regimes in West Africa which occurred between 2022 and 2023. The coup in Burkina Faso presents the most interesting aspect which I think was the chief motivation of this aspect of the study. The military ruler (Ibrahim Traore in Burkina Faso) is insanely loved by the people for his Pan-Africanism agenda which appears to advance economic interests of his country to the detriment of neo-colonist powers that had impoverished the country. When he offered to step aside to allow civilian rule whereby elections were to take place, thousands of people thronged the streets to demonstrate against his stepping aside. So, I think the study wanted to find out whether it is in the interest of most African countries to rather have military/dictatorship rule over democratic rule. Hence that shape of narrative from the findings.
The report’s findings suggest that most Africans still prefer democracy, rejecting non-democratic alternatives, and endorsing core democratic norms, institutions, and practices. However, it also highlights that “some cracks are showing in the bulwark of democratic support,” with a decline in support for democracy in several countries, including some of the continent’s current or former democratic leaders.
Crucially, the newspaper’s claim about the “rule of law whittling away at democratic support” in Malawi is a gross misrepresentation. The Afrobarometer report clearly states that this is an African-wide trend, not a Malawian one. In fact, the evidence suggests that Malawi’s rule of law remains exemplary compared to its regional and income-level peers, as evidenced by the World Justice Project 2023 Rule of Law Index, which ranks Malawi 69th out of 142 countries globally, 8th out of 34 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 2nd out of 18 low-income countries.
By failing to highlight these crucial facts and context, the Nation Newspaper has engaged in a deliberate misrepresentation of the Afrobarometer report. This, in our view, appears to be a conscious effort by the Nation Newspaper to shape a particular narrative, rather than providing readers with an accurate and balanced account of the report’s findings. The newspaper’s actions undermine the public’s trust in the media and its ability to report fairly and objectively.
It is essential that the media upholds the highest standards of journalistic integrity and presents information in a way that is transparent, accurate, and void of agenda-driven distortions. The Nation Newspaper’s coverage of the Afrobarometer report is a disservice to its readers and a betrayal of the public’s trust. It is time for the newspaper to acknowledge its mistakes, correct the record, and commit to more responsible and ethical reporting in the future.
