Two journalists in Malawi were arrested on Tuesday and charged with publishing false information for reporting that President Bingu wa Mutharika had moved out of a newly built palace because he believes it is haunted. Raphael Tenthani, who works for the BBC, and Mabvuto Banda, a journalist for The Nation newspaper who also reports for the Reuters news agency, were arrested in Blantyre early on Tuesday and driven under police escort to Lilongwe, about 320km to the north, to face charges at police headquarters."We have been charged with publishing false information but I will stand by my story," Tenthani said.A third person, Horace Nyaka, who is an aide to Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha, was also arrested and charged with the same offence, although it is not know what his link is to the incident.

An aide to Mutharika at the weekend told journalists that the president had abandoned the $100-million palace in Lilongwe because he had been hearing "strange noises that keep him awake or feels rodents crawling all over his body but when he turns on the lights, he sees nothing"."It's true that the president is no longer staying there and we have asked clerics from several Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic [Church], to pray for the new state house to exorcise evil spirits," said Reverend Malani Mtonga, who is the president's adviser on religious affairs.

View: Full Article | Source: mg.co.za