Identity crisis: Is PCL private or govt company?

Press Corporation Limited (PCL) CEO Matthews Chikaonda always takes himself as part of the private sector. Whenever he is invited to any forum he speaks as someone from the private sector, meaning that the conglomerate is a private company. In fact, the other time he complained that government was not inviting the private sector to the forums even when individuals other than him were invited. It was like saying “if you do not invite me, there is no private sector.”

But is PCL a private or government company?

A brief historical background will assist unpack the truth about the ownership of PCL. In 1995, there was a vigorous debate in Parliament between the opposition MCP and the ruling UDF when Parliament passed the Press Trust (Reconstruction) Act. MCP stalwarts Herthewick Ntaba and Louis Chimango sued government citing that “Parliament does not have the constitutional competence to pass a law that expropriates private property arbitrarily.”

However, the Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed Press Trust’s public status and its charitable activities.  It stated that historical evidence shows that Press Trust, which was a forerunner of Malawi Press Limited (which owned Press Corporation) and Press Holdings Limited, was a quasi-public body (parastatal company) created with public funds for the benefit of the Malawian nation. Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda and successive MCP party members such as the late Aleke Banda, the late Sydney Somanje and John Tembo held shares on behalf of Malawians. Consequently, government had on a number of occasions procured loans on behalf of Press Corporation.

Press Corporation conglomerate is owned by Press Trust which is a public trust under the Press Trust Reconstruction Act. It was reconstituted by Parliament so that Malawians derive maximum benefit from it. To put it bluntly, PCL is a baby of Press Trust which is a public institution created by government on behalf of all Malawians for charitable activities for the benefit of the Malawian nation and not for the benefit of a few people. How is the company benefitting Malawians as prescribed by the Press Trust Act?

Any organisation formed by an Act of Parliament is government-owned or public.  One wonders how the status of PCL changed to be in private hands and who changed it. Malawians need to know.

By making PCL to be in private hands means that a large chunk of money is going into pockets of individuals and companies in the form of dividends, hefty salaries, bonuses and allowances at the expense of millions of Malawians for whom the trust was created.  The UDF government amended the Press Trust Act precisely to stop a few individuals benefiting from a public trust whose benefits should accrue to all Malawians. PCL has lost the purpose for which it was created. It is pursing profits motives that accrue only to a few people.

The objective of the Press Trust (Reconstruction) Act 1995 was “to reconstruct or rearrange the administration of the Press Trust with a view to enhancing the opportunity by beneficiaries of the Press Trust, the people of Malawi, of deriving full benefits from the proceeds of the Press Trust property with a view to ensuring that Press Trust is not administered…for the benefit of only selected members….”

Government and PCL management owe Malawians an explanation how the status of PCL changed from being a public to private entity. Did someone sell the company secretly? Something is wrong somewhere!