NOS Special Pullout

7/29/2019 NOS Special Pullout

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It has been worth it, says NPL CEO AchuthanP2

Ken Lipenga reflects on his time at NationP8 Page 5

Alfred Mtaula

on 20 yearsat Nation


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Special pullout nation on SunDaY 20 JanuaRY 2013

It has been worth it

2

PAGE 4

Achuthan: It feels good to imagine that we have contributed

something

PH

OTOGRAPH:NATiONL

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nation at 20

She has made coffeefor staff, inserted andwrapped newspapers,interviewed sources anddone storiesshe hasbeen everything at NPL for

the past 20 years. As thecompany celebrates 20years of service in Malawi,

Mbumba Achuthan, NationPublications Limited chiefexecutive officer, reflectson what has been a toughbut exciting and rewardingjourney. She talks to BrightMhango.

Twenty years on and stillgoing strong. Even stronger!How does it feel when you look

back over this period?I was asked in a session just

a few days ago to close my eyesand imagine all the people whohad engaged with NPL over thelast 20 years surrounding theoffice. I was asked to imagine theeffect we have had on all thosethousands of people, to imagineour impact on the country andall developments. It feels good toimagine that we have contributed

something, I have contributedsomething. It has all been worthits while.

So how did it all begin forNPL in terms of conceiving theidea of a company and gettingoff the ground?

Hon Aleke Banda, other peopleand I had been working onvarious publications during theperiod leading up to the change

to multiparty democracy. It wasduring this time that we startedtalking about what we could dothereafter that the idea of startinga newspaper was hatched.

He approached Hon Dr KenLipenga who bought into the ideaand became the founding editor-in-chief and then we roped in thecurrent deputy chief executiveofficer, Mr Alfred Ntonga, theproduction and distribution

manager, Mr Alfred Mtaula, MrBilly Mphande and a few others.We started off with a computer,typewriter, limited furniture andone car in a two-roomed officebuilding. We started by comingup with an editorial policy andmission to guide us and this has

served us well to this day.Our first publication was The

Nation produced twice a week,later thrice a week and whichthen turned into a daily. We thenbrought in Saturday Nation, nowWeekend Nation, added Nation onSunday and the rest is history.

What is it that you would pickout as the key success factors inthe growth of the company?

There are several success factorsthat I will zero in on:

Our editorial policy and missionhas been the guide that newsroomhas used throughout the 20 years.This has helped us ensure that weproduce our products accordingto professional standards. It hashelped us ensure that at all timesour allegiance is to the people orthe nation and not any individualor group. This has helped usmaintain our credibility.

The dedication, loyalty andquality of our staff has been thefoundation on which all else has

been built and achieved. Theconsistency in the way we havemaintained our relationshipwith our key stakeholdersadvertisers, readers/subscribers,vendors/agents, suppliers, andothers has ensured that we havenot only sustained and but also

consolidated and grown thebusiness.

What would you say are thestand-out areas that set theNPL of today apart from thecompany of 1993?

We have advancedtechnologically in that we nowhave a completely new state-of-the-art printing outfit that ensuresquality products produced cost-effectively and on time. We arenow able to reach most of ourmarkets in the morning whereasin 1993 it could take two days toreach certain markets and it didnot even make sense to distribute

Time to celebrate20 years togetherYourNation on Sunday looks slightly different today. Somecolumns and news spaces are not there. It is because theedition is carrying special features and items that are partof celebrations for 20 years of our existence.

As indicated recently by our sister newspaper, TheNation, this year marks 20 years since Nation PublicationsLimited brands (NPL) brands hit the streets. First, it wasThe Nation, then Weekend Nation and your other favouritebrand, Nation on Sunday. This came at almost the sametime with your news and culturally-richNation Online.

We are celebrating the 20 years with a very Big ThankYou as our loyal and trusted readers, advertisers, businesspartners as well as moral supporters.

1993 is a long way and a lot of support. In fact, when themultiparty, independent print media came on the scene

in the early 90s to fight Kamuzu Bandas dictatorship totake its rightful place among the free media of the world,there were about three dozen new newspapers, a varietyof new magazines and media houses on the market.When we look back, 20 years later, they have all left theroads save for NPL.

Our strong conviction for this survival is that youdear reader, advertiser and supporterwant us to live,not only for the simple reason of breaking monopoliesthat existed before. We are aware you want diversity inthe countrys media and alternative avenues for all voicesat all timeswhich is a hallmark of democracy.

This is where, as a media house, we renew our cardinalpledge to serve you with the highest standards: to lookfor and stick to facts and fair comment. We will, as wehave said over the years, seek the public interest withoutundue intrusion into privacy. We shall not serve anypartisan interest apart from the greater national good.

Ours is a mission to publish credible news and provideinnovative media solutions that add value to you, ourstakeholders.

In fact, we see ourselves as more than just news, aswe set our eyes to be the media house of choice in thecountry.

This is why, during this celebratory period, we onceagain open our lines for suggestions for improvementfor our brands so that together we continue building thecountry.

Meanwhile, as we celebrate this year, culminating intomain events in July, we will offer special packages to ourreaders, advertisers and circulation associates, to ensurethat the 20-year-success is a shared occasion.

We invite you to link up with our brand managers and/or usual NPL contacts to see what is in store for you. Infact, on every 20th of the month, any one of our brandswill have a package that makes us look back with prideand reflect for the next decades.

Enjoy yourNation on Sunday.


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Special pullout nation on SunDaY 20 JanuaRY 2013 3

Down the memory lanenation at 20

Quotable Quotes

In my view, this is what education should be about: a development ofmental faculty, in combination with an equal development of the personal

character.Aleke Banda, speaking when he received computers from Beit Trustof England at Zomba Catholic Secondary School in April 1998 in his capacity asAgriculture Minister.

My most memorable moment was when we used superb team spirit toproduce a breakthrough investigative story on the Mwanza murders.

This was an investigative story in which literally everybody at The Nation, includingmessengers and drivers, sweepers, watchmen, what have you, was involved.Dr Ken

Lipenga, Nation founding editor-in-chief, on 20 years of journalism at NPL.

Our clients should expect and demand a lot from us. I can assure you that we aregeared to be your media house of choice and to provide you with more than justnews.Mbumba Achutan, CEO, Nation Publications Limited, reflecting on NPLs 20 years ofservice.

The lion sleeps: Former president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda lying in state in 1997

PHOTOGRAPH

s:NATiONL

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This is the second edition of The Nation, published in 1993

Former Nation journalist Dennis Mzembe interviewing ex-Aford president

the late Chakufwa Chihana A crestfallen Mama mourns the fallen Ngwazi in 1997


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to some markets because of thenewspapers shelf life. We are alsoable to produce a product that canbe full colour on any page withconsistently good colour quality.

We have diversified our productoffering to include online newsand a vernacular product that is bi-lingual and distributed fortnightlyto the rural and peri-urban areasfor free. This has led to our ability

to reach a much larger audience.We have a trained workforce.

The practice of journalism and themedia business was very limitedin 1993. All staff that came on

nation at 20

achuth ooks bck t 20 yers of nplPAGE 2 board, save for the few who

came from Blantyre NewspapersLimited, had to be trained literallyfrom scratch. Today, we have staffthat come trained and we simplysuperimpose the NPL style andgive them the platform to practisetheir profession and gain theexperience needed to enable thembecome journalists of note.

At a personal level, in what

way have you had to adjust themanner you have managed thecompany over the years?

A: In the early years, we hadto do a lot of multi-tasking. I led

the organisation and did all theadministrative work. At times Iwrote, I delivered the product, Iworked in the design studio, I madecoffee for staff when we workedlong hours, I worked in the printinserting and wrapping, I went outto help find and interview sourcesduring the Mwanza murderinvestigations, I went out duringOperation Bwezani I literally dideverything. All leaders had to

play a very hands-on role.All this was done while

developing systems and standards,operational manuals all literallyfrom scratch. This was the case

because we did not have modelswe could learn from other thanthe limited offering from the mainexisting newspaper organisationat the time.

With time we also got moreopportunities to learn fromother organisations all over theworld and made all relevantadjustments. With time, we alsobrought in specialised teams tohandle the different areas of the

business and my role becamemore of a leadership role creatinga platform for the team to maketheir contributions in full towardsfulfilling our goals.

When Bingu wa Mutharikawent flat out against thecompany, you still kept yourworkforce, even employed morepeople, how did you overcomethat hurdle?

Firstly, we ensured thateverything we did was accordingto our editorial policy and missionand all our other systems andstandards. We ensured that wemaintained our professionalism

and remained true to ourstakeholders. As a result ofthat we got their support. Our

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The day I got a sober lessonFew people know thepressures that reportersand editors go throughfrom conception of anews idea right to thetime readers are holdinga newspaper to updatethemselves on events.Gracian Tukulasheds lighton the process by sharinga personal experience.

I was only a few months onthe job as a reporter tryingto make a name in the trade.

A Limbe businessman cameto the office to give you astory. I was assigned to meethim and hear him out. It was acompelling story as he told mehow government was trying toderail his investment whichwould significantly help thecountrys economy.

Listening to the

businessmans account, I wasconvinced that the man wasbeing given a raw deal andthere was anger building withinme to see that a governmentthat had just come inBakiliMuluzis UDF government wasonly four months old at thetimecould afford to frustratea well-meaning investor whocould as well have chosen totake his money elsewhere.

As I bid farewell to mysource and made my way tomy bosses for a debriefingsessiona discussion wherebya reporter briefs the editor onwhat has transpired in orderto map the way forwardIwas already thinking of my

headline and introduction line.It was not going to be kind toa government that had madepoverty alleviation its mainmission. What a contradiction,I thought.

I fully expected my editorto share my anger againstgovernment or, at least,the excitement that we hadan interesting story. I wasdisappointed. As he listened tomy brief, it was clear from hisbody language that he was not

convinced and what he said laterput his scepticism into contextand left me with a lasting lessonwhich I have happily passed onto those that have come afterme.

Hey Gracian, cool down,was his opening remark. I canfeel anger welling inside you,but avoid getting emotionallyinvolved in stories because your

judgement will be clouded. Wedefinitely have a potentiallygood story here, but what we

have so far is HIS story. Weshall need to do much morein order to get THE story, theNation story if you like.

You can imagine how deflatedI was but the perspective that

followed helped to sober me upand renew my vigour to pursuethe story further.

You see Gracian, no one cancome here to give you a storysimply to ensure that you havea by-line the following day.

There is a reason for someone

to drive here and give us thisstory. They have some interest.We need to have an idea of whatthat interest is, the lecturecontinued.

The long and short of theadvice I got was that I neededto look at all the players in thestory and hear their own storiesbefore I could decide on how topresent it.

I had hardly taken my seat the

following morning when I wastold that someone had called afew minutes before I walked inasking for me. Lest we forget,there were no mobile phones inMalawi in 1994.

Before I could ask for moredetails on the caller, the phonerang again and it was the samecaller.

Gracian, you cant makeme spend K2.50 to buy yournewspaper only to find that the

news I gave you is not there?Dont you know that I cangive that story to the otherpapers and they will sell? theman went on without giving methe chance to answer any of hisquestions.

Sorry Sir, I tried to containmyself. I have not abandonedthe story, but there are a fewthings that need to be done toit.

He would have none of that.

From that dressing down,I had to join my colleagueswho had just started the daysmorning meeting which startsby reviewing the days paper

Producing a newspaper takes a lot of trouble and team workPHOTOGRAPH:NATiONL

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Bright Mhango

Staff Reporter

nation at 20

The Nation child

At 29, Alfred Mtaula hadchanged several jobs andgrowing up was not waiting forhim; it was him that needed tocatch up with growing up.

Since getting his printingdiploma from The MalawiPolytechnic, he had been outand about proving his academicqualificationsMontfort Press,Polypack Limited and the nowdefunct newspaper The Monitor.

It was at The Monitor that hemet Mbumba Achuthan, theCEO of NPL.

I joinedlet me say westarted NPL together with the

likes of Alfred Ntonga, Dr KenLipenga, Mr. Mphande and Mrs.Achuthan in 1993.

We drew together peoplefrom two newspapers: somelike me came from The Monitor,Mrs. Achuthan and some fromBlantyre Newspapers Limited.I started work as a productionsupervisor, said Mtaula, nowproduction and distributionmanager for NPL.

For him, it was a risk; he hadbeen production manager at TheMonitor and to become a meresupervisor at a newly startednewspaper was a plain gamble,but strangely the new packagewas more attractive.

It was not just the packagethat attracted me; I had workedwith Mrs. Achuthan at TheMonitor and had seen the qualityof leadership she provided,said Mtaula, lying back casually

in an easy chair on the greenlawns of his Area 47 home.

Inside the house, his twochildren are playing some hiphop. They are now studying atCatholic UniversityDalitsodoing banking and the youngerone, Sandra, is working towardsa social work degree.

There was no Dalitso in 1993;the children Mtaula darlinglyterms Nation babies were born

while he was at NPL and sincetheir father has not changed ajob in their lifetimes.

What makes a man who hadchanged three jobs in five yearsfinally settle for one companyand stick by it for a whopping20 years?

loyal readers, subscribers andadvertisers stood by us becausewe gave them the product thatthey wanted and expected.

At the same time, we have aworkforce that believes in whatthey do and that works as a team.

The external threat served tobring the team closer together in adetermination to survive. It was,almost, a challenge that everyonetook head on. At the same time,various business strategies wereengaged to ensure survival and insome areas growth.

What would you cite as thelowest and highest points inthe life of the company over thepast 20 years?

The results of the Mwanzamurder investigation and thestories we carried on that andwhat followed remains a highpoint from an editorial point ofview. Our survival of the harshpolitical climate and the fact thatwe came out of it even strongeris another. The acquisition of ourbrand new printing outfit alsostands out. Most importantly, theconstant recognition from ourclients over the years has been amajor plus.

The low points have been theloss of our founding father, mentorand guide, Hon Aleke Banda. Henever, one day, worked at NPL.He never went out to bring usbusiness. He never influencedstories. However, he demandedthe highest of standards and thatis the biggest gift he gave to NPL.He always said: one day I wantyou to be like The Times of London.Where we erred, he expected us tohave an intelligent and completeexplanation. Where we did wellhe was our biggest supporter anda great source of encouragement.He was our inspiration.

We have also suffered at thehands of the political systems

where leaders have failed to acceptthat we are a mirror on societyand have a watchdog role to play.

The introduction of tough medialaws was also a very negative

The story of one of the longest serving NPL employees

The first obvious reason isthat his mobility scared him; hewanted to settle down and growup.

I felt contented, I had movedup the ladder at NPL and wasmaking decisions. NPL is thelast company that will everemploy me. If I am to leave,then I am retired or gone tostart my own thing,

Companies are like family;if you work hard enough, youget what you want, declared

Mtaula.And his survival kit is not

that heavy. He advises youthsto stay focused at work and taketheir workmates as teammates,not competitors.

Achuthan vouched forMtaulas survival toolkit andsaid he himself is a good teamplayer and that is but one of hismany pros that she saw.

Mr. Mtaula came on board

NPL from day one and his firstwonderful quality is his loyalty.He takes this company as if itwere his own, he contributesideas and deals with issuespositively and firmly. He is verytimely and deadline conscious,said Achuthan.

Not all has been rosy forMtaula. The old machine

Achuthan referred to hauntedhim when it performed dismally.He says he was blamed and ifthere was a time he could havewalked away from NPL it couldhave been then.

I couldnt leave because Idid not want to prove the criticsright, so I stayed and workedhard to make the machinedeliver, said Mtaula.

And that was not it. In this

other year along his 20 years atNPL he had to be summonedby his superiors and his sloppyperformance questioned.

He noted how NPL haschanged. It used to be a smallunit, he said.

Each person knew everyother person, each wedding,funeral or hospitalisation wasnoted. Now the company is sobig, you dont even know who

is marrying, he said.One of the original foundersof the NPL social football teamZabweka, dubbed after theerstwhile hit cartoon strip, hesays he can visualise the firstgame NPL playedof course,they went down 6-2.

His football side makeshis most darling hobby up tonow, apart from gardening andspending time with family.

A staunch Arsenal fan, Mtaulaloves watching the EnglishPremier League.

Mtaula is obsessed withquality. He concedes that hedoes not read the stories first inthe papers; he flips through thenewspaper looking for errors indesigning.

For the stories, his wife

Sharon reads the paper andthen narrates them to him.

Professionally, Mtaula looksto the day following KamuzuBandas death as one of themost involving and interestingday.

We printed over 50 000copies. Everyone moved fromthe offices to become inserters.Food was supplied at work andeven the CEO was there, he

reminisced.For Dalitso, Sandra, Alfred,Sharon, NPL is not just a name;it is intertwined with their livesand destiny.

And that is what NPL is tomany other Malawians. It goesbeyond the news. n

Twenty years at Nation and still counting: Mtaula (C) poses with his childrenPHOTOGRAPH:NATiONL

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Interview

with CEOAchuthan

PagE 2

PagE 6


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before sharing on news ideas ofthe day.

Soon after the meeting, I wason my way to Mapanga, Blantyre,

where the businessman hadintended to invest his millions,or so he claimed.

When I reached the disputedland, what I found was a sorrysight and it dawned on me thatthe businessman was far frombeing the benefactor he hadprofessed to be.

I later spoke to the BlantyreCity Council and the Ministryof Lands. What we had at theend of the day was a story

of exploitation, bullying,corruption and sheer brutalityby a man who set out to portrayhimself as a Good Samaritan.

I felt good doing that story,not just because of the educationI got in chasing it, but also dueto the potential impact it wasgoing to have.

When I presented my copy tothe editor, he was just as happyI was. Of course, he had tochange here and there simply tojustify his existence in the chainbut in the end it went to thedesigners, whom we now calltechnical journalists. I saw fromthe dummy (sketch of the page)that the story would not onlymake the front page, but would,in fact, be the main story.

I had to wait to see thedesigner make the first proofof the page, send it to theeditor who made a few more

corrections and sent the proofback to the designer with hissignature. The designer madethe suggested corrections andprinted another proof whichwent to a second-eye to checkfor any possible slip-ups.

When the final proof wasmade and editor signed that ashis front page, I was assured Ihad made the front page thelead! I was looking forward forthe following day.

Or was I? Did I have anotheridea to enable me make thefront page, let alone the lead,the day after? Such are thedaily pressures of the reporter.There is never a chance tobask in the glory of yesterdaysachievements. n

npl ceo taks abut highs ad wsPAGE 5

development that came up.

Your father was a politician,how easy was it to be NPL withhis shadow?

A: Hon A K Banda believed insetting standards. He set standardsin the form of the editorial policyand mission. He set standardsby making it clear what sort ofpublication he expected us toproduce. He set standards simplyby being an excellent performerin his own right, so he led byexample. So long as the standards

were maintained, we would nothear from him other than a wordof encouragement or appreciationwhere relevant or engagement onideas from time to time.

He was, therefore, notintrusive, and he did not haveany expectations of us other thanthat we produce the paper to thehighest standards possible. Heexpected us to treat him and anypolitical party or other group hewas involved in as a newsmakerjust like any other.

Initially, people did not believethat we could be neutral andprofessional. Always upon

hearing he was a part of NPL,people would be sceptical. But itwas after engaging with us andour products that people wereable to see that NPL operatedprofessionally and was never amouthpiece or tool for Hon AlekeBanda.

In fact, Hon Aleke Bandasuffered a lot of abuse andsuspicion at the hands of hiscolleagues as a result of NPLsneutrality and perceived lack ofsupport.

Looking ahead, anythingup your sleeves for NPL, the

companys clients and thenation at large?

With the acquisition of the newprinting machine and accessories,our plans on diversification,that include new products anddevelopment of our currentproducts, are on their way tofruition. Our clients and thenation at large can, therefore, lookforward to NPL providing mediasolutions that are of superiorquality and accessible to most.

Should we expect NPL Radioor TV in the near future?

Radio, TV, mobile and more. n

nation at 20

Tukula learned

it the hard wayin journalismPAGE 2

Days gone by at Nation

Former editor ofThe Nation the lateJika Nkolokosa

PHOTOGRAPH:NATiONL

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In the days of old: Jacqueline Bizaliele, callcentre supervisor

Then reporterGracian Tukula, now

Nation on Sunday editorCEO Mbumba Achuthan (R), her deputy

Alfred Ntonga (L) pose with formerreporter Limbani Moya


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nation at 20

A peek into life at Nation

and poked hilarious fun atpoliticians and public figures ofthe day. The other contributionwas the satirical cartoon TownRat & Country Rat.

lipega traves back i time to his days at natioPAGE 8 I produced the concept

and the ideas, which werethen beautifully turned intopowerful graphical images bythe remarkably talented lateBrian Hara.

I guess it is this backgroundwhich makes it possible for me

to laugh at myself and see thehumour in some unflatteringcartoons of myself. I supposewhat I said to Aleke that daylong ago could easily have beensaid to me by my successors atNation. But this is, of course, anincomplete story, which I have

quickly scribbled as a way ofcongratulating the hardworkingmen and women at Nation, ledby Mbumba and Alfred, as theycelebrate 20 years of remarkable

journalism. Congratulations,folks!

Just keep working harder at

achieving that sense of balanceand fairness. I doubt if this willprevent them from doing morecartoons of me. Meanwhile,should you wish to know morethen look out for my award-winning memoirscomingsoon. n

The buzz of the newsroom

Garry Chirwa,Senior News AnalystFor over a decade now, it hasbeen fun waking up in themorning, have a quick showerand then rush to work.

Over the years, even whenI am singing the blues, my bigboss Alfred Ntonga cheers my

spirits before I get down towork by taunting me abouthis favourite team Manchester

Uniteds win or my belovedBluesChelseaswoes.

One thing I have discoveredis that when the Red Devilswin, he is one of the first tostorm into the newsroom andheads directly to me whileshouting: Baba, mwachiwonachitimu? Kulanga mwana chifukwacha zolakwa za atate ake! ThenGeorge Kasakula, anotherUnited diehard, usually chipsin, in his deep Chewa accent,screaming: umnnh! Tamufinyamwana uja bwanji!

Then it is time to have ourdaily morning desk meetingsand the sports editor MichaelMmeya whips us on our dailytasks. We have a consortiumof food groups and that is thetime when I and my colleaguelittle Gomezgani Zakazaka arefound wanting and we spongeinto consortiums, going roundthe desks asking for stuff likesugar, tea and powdered milk.

In such cases, Aubrey Mchuluand gangly Paida Mpaso, whomGome calls Sweden based for

whatever reason, are alwaysthe first ones to take us totask by asking: Kodi inu bwanjisimusonkha? Mumangopemphadaily...kodi kumowansomumapemphetsa chonchi? Leroiyayi. Ngati mufuna muloweconsortium.

Another funny fella isCaroline Somanje who cant juststop talking and she commentson everythingwhether an

update on TV or radio or peoplepassing-by outside. I and Gomecall her Mama G in reference to

the Nigerian actress .After that,its back to business, getting

down to work in order to

meet deadlines and before you

realise it its already past noonand then Mmeya suddenly says

Abambo titi pati...ma deadline tu

paja?

Its been all fun. Probablythat is why I didnt realise I

have been around for this longand it feels good that we are

clocking 20 this year! n

Herbert Chagunda,Marketing Officer

So what does a typicalday in the life of a marketerpan out at NPL?

Every day is unique andbrings its own excitingchallenges. Planning is keyin my job, but working inthe media industry meansthat monotony does notexist, hence the need tothink on my feet whenthe situation arises.

My day kicks offwith a prayer, a fewstretching exercises, then

a hot shower, followedby a good breakfast.Thereafter, its time tohop into the car and driveto Ginnery Corner whereour offices are.

Once in the office, atypical day would startwith me picking up onmy emails, going througha copy of The Nation andwhat the competitionhas to offer. My jobinvolves taking care ofproduct marketing, brandmanagement, promotionsand sponsorshipsand corporate socialresponsibility, among

Being a marketer at NPL

other key marketingareas.

A day of a marketercannot be completewithout making somerecommendations tomanagement on how totake the brand to the next

level based on markettrends and research.Before you know it,

time has flown by and itis time to clear the tableand head back home for agood rest. n

Jenipher Chanika,Circulation Officer,Southern Region

Circulation is aboutgetting the product to the

end user. In the case ofa company such as NPL,the item to be deliveredis the newspaper. Justlike there is no newswithout a reporter, thereis no newspaper withoutsomebody to make itavailable to the personwho needs itthe reader,the advertiser,the job

Getting the newspaper to the reader A day in the life of a Nation sales person

Alfred Kanjere, SalesExecutive

People see adverts inour publications everydaybut few understand howthese adverts are sourcedand processed.

Being a sales person isone of the most excitingcareers because no dayis similar to the previousone as we meet peoplewith different needs andexpectations all the time.

To succeed as asales person, there isneed for a great deal of

planning. Our day startswith a brainstormingmeeting. The sales teamshare ideas on how toeffectively execute thatweeks sales strategy. Wediscuss clients that maybe difficult to deal within order to share ideas onhow to approach them.

Having done that,we now do a call sheet.

This is a detailed plan

of how my day will be,where I will go, whattime and what productsI am selling. This helpssuperiors to track how weare faring and gives theminsights to make timely

interventions where needbe.

We have differentproducts that appeal todifferent clients. One ofour main roles is also toadvise clients on whichproduct best suits theirrequirement.

We are on call 24/7 ascustomers can call forinformation even during

weekends and odd hours.So when you look at a salesperson, you are looking atmoney for the companyand shareholders. Youare looking at the face ofNPL.n

seeker and many others.Indeed, what use is a

newspaper if you produceit but keep it in the printingroom? As a circulationofficer responsible forthe Southern Region,my duty is to make surethat newspapers aredistributed to all areas inthe region.

Circulation is not onlyabout distribution; it isalso about sales, so I goout and sell NPL services,such as subscription, to

clients to grow sales.All in all, it is a

very challengingjob, but I reallyenjoy it! n


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Dr Ken Lipenga

Founding editor-in-chief

nation at 20

Reminiscences of a time gone by

Every time I see a satiricalcartoon of myself in the papers,which these days is rather often,Im reminded of a conversationI once had with my friend, thelate Aleke Banda, founder ofNation.

He had just been appointed

Cabinet minister in the firstBakili Muluzi administrationafter Malawis 1994 multipartyelections. He was also in thepowerful position of vice-president of the then rulingUnited Democratic Front.

I was then editor-in-chief ofthe Nation. A year or so earlier,I had been working with AKB,as Aleke was known amongclose friends and family, as a

member of an undergroundtaskforce he had set up to fightfor change, under the umbrellaof a pressure group called theUnited Democratic Front.This was just after Aleke hadbeen released from detentionafter 12 years and after I hadunceremoniously been sackedas editor-in-chief of the DailyTimes for writing a subversivearticle entitled Of Galileo as

Dissident.We used to sit down till late

into the night, scheming anddrafting all sorts of subversivepamphlets to undermine theone-party regime. The Nation,then a biweekly, was formedjust after the 1993 referendumfor multiparty democracy, withme as the first editor-in-chief,and Mbumba Achuthan, Alekesdaughter, as general manager.

I was given the taskof designing the papersmasthead, and I came up withthe one you still see today, withits characteristic thick blueand thin white lines. I did thework on my early Macintoshcomputer in the tiny Nkolokosahouse I had hurriedly movedinto after being thrown outof the company house by myformer employers at BlantyreNewspapers.

Im immensely grateful to thefolks at Nation for leaving themasthead largely unchangedover the years.

My most memorable momentwas when we used superb team

spirit to produce a breakthroughinvestigative story on theMwanza murders. This was aninvestigative story in whichliterally everybody at The Nation,including messengers anddrivers, sweepers, watchmen,what have you, was involved. Iremember that we had to hideone of our sources in a motel forabout a week, and his mystifiedwife kept coming to my house

to demand knowledge of thewhereabouts of her loved one.Then later another secret

source told us he had traced thewhereabouts of one of the menwho had actually taken part inthe killing of the four politiciansin 1983, namely Dick Matenje,John Twaibu Sangala, AaronGadama and David Chiwanga.

The Mwanza murders storywas really a taboo story that noone would dare talk about fora long time. Even attemptingto tackle it in 1993/94 carriedserious risks.

Our source told us he couldtake us to where the allegedmurderer was. We decidedto send him to the location

somewhere in the Zomba, withinstructions to persuade theman to reminisce about his darkpast. The source, who was aprevious acquaintance with thesuspect from their earlier daysin the police, returned aftertwo days and told us that thiswas indeed one of the killers.What was now needed was fora journalist to travel to the areaand actually meet, talk to, andhopefully take a picture of thegentleman.

I decided to be the one, andwe resolved that I should beled to the place immediately byour source. It made sense forme to be at the centre of thisstory because I had also earliertravelled to Thambani withthe earlier source we had beenhiding in a motel, a former policephotographer, (tracked down byMbumba, I recall,) who showedme the place where the murdershad taken place, as he was theone who took the pictures ofthe bodies the morning after.

When we arrived in thevillage, I arranged to stay in thecar about one hundred metres

away. I told the source that whenasked why he had returned sosoon when he was there theprevious day, he should say thathe had found a maiden in thevillage that he wanted to marryand had, therefore, broughthis uncle to start the processof proposing. He should thensuggest that he introduces me,his uncle, to him.

The source soon came backto me saying the man was readyto meet me. I went to meethim. We spent something liketwo hours with the fellow, andalthough I didnt exactly extracta confession out of him, he saidenough to convince me that hehad indeed been involved.

When our man becamesuspicious of the camera, mysource quickly explained thatI had been fascinated at theprospect of meeting an oldclose friend of my relative andhoped to take a picture of thetwo of them together at thisgreat reunion. Whereupon theman obliged. Although I aimedmy camera at the two of them,I actually only took a very good

close-up photo of the suspectonly, which photo was splashedon The Nations front page foran edition which sold like theproverbial hot cakes.

But back to my conversationwith Aleke.

You do understand, Hon.Minister, I said with a touch ofa veiled threat, that althoughyoure connected with this

paper, well not hesitate to bashyou and draw cartoons of youshould you do or say anythingthat warrants that. There willbe no fear or favour.

If youre talking abouteditorial independence, hereplied, then let me assure youthat Ill never interfere with thepaper in any way.

The personality of Aleke wassuch that I had no difficulty

accepting his assurance. And asit turned out, he kept his word.For sure, we had many occasionswhen we did not get on too wellwith the UDF government, andpoor Aleke was always suspectedby some of his colleagues ofbeing somehow behind ourhard-hitting anti-governmenteditorials. This continued afterI left Nation and ended up asyet another politician.

From the beginning, Nationalways aimed to be a highlyobjective and professionalpublication, and rubbingpoliticians the wrong way wasalways part of the agenda. Butbecause Nation is run by humanbeings it has had its occasionalmoments of less-than-perfectjournalism, both when I was itseditor-in-chief and after. What Iadmire about the way the paperhas evolved is that the team arealways trying to do better andlearn from whatever mistakesthey may make from time totime.

From a bi-weekly, the paperquickly moved on to becomea daily, with many youngjournalists who had worked withme at the Daily Times comingon board. In later years, myown contributions to the paperincluded the introduction of asatirical column calledKongorosCalabash Tales, in which a motleygroup of not-so-sober buddiesgathered in the Calabash Club

Lipenga left Nation in 1995 to join politicsPHOTOGRAPH:NATiONL

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