Media plays vital role in oversight management of public resources-Action Aid Malawi ED

MALAWI: Action Aid Malawi Executive Director Pamela Kuwali says the media provides space for duty-bearers to be held accountable for decisions and actions taken on behalf of citizens.

Kuwali made the remarks on Tuesday 10 May 2022 during the Partnership for Social Accountability Alliance & Highway Africa Data-driven Storytelling workshop taking place in Mponela, central Malawi from 10 May to 11 May.

She stated that within the SADC Region, public service delivery continues to face numerous public resource management challenges in nearly all sectors of the economy.

“Among these issues are corruption, mismanagement, and waste of public resources; insufficient resource allocation and late disbursement of funds; and limited citizen consultations in the planning and budget allocation processes are among the issues,” she said.

She said through investigative journalism, they are ensuring that such issues are not only exposed but also prevented and corrected in Malawi.

“These investigative story reports have, over time, generated tremendous evidence for our advocacy work and have promptly contributed to governments’ improvement in the delivery of public services and management of public resources,” she said.

Seventeen journalists from Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi attended the data journalism training.

Kuwali said: “It is for the above that I would want to encourage each one of us to fully concentrate and participate in this very critical training. Data journalism is becoming the most sort after type of reportage. It is the journalism that presents evidence in a way that demystifies numbers; ways that speaking to the meaning behind statics.”

The Executive Director of Action Aid Malawi urged the journalists to use the knowledge gained during the training to "create life-changing media content in this part of Africa where we are all still grappling with issues affecting the common man, particularly women, girls, and children."