By Vincent Gunde
The National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust in Dowa has called on journalists in the district to provide the communities with credible information and investigate corruption issues on projects so that the communities are informed of such issues to face duty bearers on their own to demand accountability.
Nice Trust will be implementing a 3- year European Union (EU) funded-Boma Lathu Programme which will be giving support to the media in the district on investigative journalism and reporting to encourage citizens to demand accountability.
The Boma Lathu Programme is supporting Nice to deliver at community level with voter education, accountability strengthening, human rights, mobilization for citizen participation in decision-making and national development.
Speaking during a-day long drilling workshop held at Mponela in the district, Dowa Nice district Civic Education Expert Alinafe Chikakuda, said Boma Lathu Programme will contribute to strengthening democratic governance and the social contract in Malawi.
Chikakuda said the Nice Trust will support delivery of nationwide civic education and increase participation for women, youth and disadvantaged groups in democratic processes saying through investigative journalism, the media acts as a powerful watchdog, uncovering corrupt practices, holding the powerful accountable, and fostering public awareness.
“The media is the provider of reliable information, watchdog, platform for democratic discourse, and mirror of diversity in society,” she said.
The Nice Trust Expert expressed her commitment to working with the media in the district for them to operate in a very professional and ethically manner to help the communities get reliable information and be able to demand accountability from duty bearers.
In his remarks, one of the journalists Kondwani Kandiado of the Nation Publications Limited, described the workshop as an eye opener to journalists in the district for them to know the core areas of reporting stories.
Kandiado urged fellow journalists to play a pivotal role in writing stories that will benefit the marginalized communities to hold duty bearers accountable and at the same time bringing development to areas that cannot be reached by the duty bearers.
 Trust in Dowa has called on journalists in the district to provide the communities with credible information and investigate corruption…){kind=link}