Journalism lecturer Mwanyungwe mourned
Media professionals have paid tribute to media trainer and former journalist Abel Mwanyungwe who died on Thursday morning at Blantyre Adventist Hospital, describing him as skilful and dedicated.
Until his death, Mwanyungwe was teaching media economics and statistics in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas), formerly The Polytechnic, in Blantyre.
In an interview on Thursday, Mubas assistant registrar responsible for human resource Gregory Banda said Mwanyungwe died around 4 am, few hours after being taken to the hospital on Wednesday.
He said Mwanyungwe had been sick for some time and in 2019 he went to India for specialised treatment.
“After the treatment in India, he was feeling well and working except for the past two months when the problem resurfaced,” said Banda.
In an interview, Nation Publications Limited (NPL) deputy chief executive officer Alfred Ntonga on Thursday described Mwanyungwe as a hardworking and skilled journalist.
He said: “He came into the newsroom with an economics degree, but we managed to harness the journalistic skills in him for him to become a business reporter, mentor and editor.
“He was a hard worker and his loss is not just a loss to the academia, but to the media fraternity as well. May his soul rest in peace.”
Speaking on behalf of the Association for Business Journalist (ABJ) secretary-general Gregory Gondwe contributed extensively to business and economics journalism, including the formation of ABJ.said Mwanyungwe
He said: “His economic, financial and business knowledge helped a lot in carrying out investigations into public finance management, among others. You can, therefore, appreciate what a loss Abel’s death is to the media industry in general and ABJ in particular.”
In a statement on Thursday, Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi Chapter said as an academic, Mwanyungwe was actively involved in research and provided valuable information as a news source on business and economics.
Mwanyungwe’s body will be taken to his home village Mwandovi, Traditional Authority Wasambo in Karonga today for burial tomorrow, Saturday.
Before joining Mubas on January 5 2003, Mwanyungwe worked for NPL as business editor. He also worked as business editor for Blantyre Newspapers Limited (now Times Group).
