Work Profile
Name
Mr. Jimmy Kainja
Position
SENIOR LECTURER
Department
Media and Communication
Profile
Jimmy Kainja is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Malawi and a PhD candidate at the University of Witwatersrand. He has over ten years of experience teaching Media, Communication, and Cultural Studies. He holds a BSc in Media Studies and an MRes in Media and Communication from London Metropolitan University. He is an adjunct research fellow at the Institute of Public Opinion and Research. He has published widely on media and communications policy, journalism, digital rights, freedom of expression, access to information, and the intersection of media, democracy, and development. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and books, and he is a co-editor of the volume The BBC's Legacy in Africa: Continuities and Change and a co-author of the forthcoming monograph Communication for Social Change in Sub-Saharan Africa: Amplifying the Marginalised Voices.
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Research
- Digital Rights, Journalism, New Media, Freedom of Expression, Access to Information, Media and Communication Policy and Regulation, Intersection between Media and democracy
Publications
- Kainja, J. (2026). Surveillance, privacy, and civil society: The struggle for digital rights in Malawi. African Human Rights Law Journal, 25, pp. 913-931. (2025)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Sharra, A., Kainja, J., & Gunde, A.M. (Eds.). (2025). The BBC's Legacy in Africa: Continuities and Change (1st ed.). Routledge. (2025)
BOOK - Kainja, J. (2025). State surveillance in Malawi: Changes and continuities. In T. Roberts & A. Mare (Ed.). Digital Surveillance in Africa: Power, Agency, and Rights (pp. 113–132). London: Zed Books. (2025)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Sharra, A., Kainja, J., & Gunde, A.M. (2025). Decolonising the African Radio: Prospects and Challenges. In Sharra, A., Kainja, J., & Gunde, A.M. (Eds.). (2025). The BBC's Legacy in Africa: Continuities and Change (1st ed.). Routledge. (2025)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Sharra, A., Kainja, J., & Gunde, A.M. (2025). The BBC's Legacy in Africa. In Sharra, A., Kainja, J., & Gunde, A.M. (Eds.). (2025). The BBC's Legacy in Africa: Continuities and Change (1st ed.). Routledge. (2025)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Sharra, A., Kainja, J., & Gunde, A.M. (2025). Torn Between Multiple Interests: Correspondents and the BBC Legacy in Africa. In Sharra, A., Kainja, J., & Gunde, A.M. (Eds.). (2025). The BBC's Legacy in Africa: Continuities and Change (1st ed.). Routledge. (2025)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Ndasauka, Y., Kainja, J. & Harawa, E. (2025). Fostering Mental Health Dialogue through Participatory Performance in Mangochi, Malawi. In Chisiza, Z. (Ed.). (2025). Theatre and Media for Social Change in Malawi (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003648437 (2025)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Kainja, J. (2025) 'Digital-ID in Malawi: Country Report', in 'G. Sesan and T. Roberts (eds), Biometric Digital-ID in Africa: Progress and Challenges to Date - Ten Country Case Studies, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, DOI: 10.19088/IDS.2025.061 (2025)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Ndasauka, Y., & Kainja, J. (2024). Stewards or Manipulators? Knowledge Brokers’ Complex Positionality in Combating the COVID-19 Infodemic in Malawi. African Journalism Studies, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2024.2341923 (2024)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Maliwichil, L., Fiskani Kondowe, F., Mmanga, C., Mchenga, M., Kainja, J., Nyamali, S. & Ndasauka, Y. (2024) The mental health toll among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malawi. Sci Rep 14, 10327. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-61216-x (2024)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Mchenga, M., Ndasauka, Y., Kondowe, F., Kainja, J., Maliwichi, L., & Nyamali, S. (2024). Mental health is just an Addendum: Assessing stakeholder’s perceptions on COVID-19 and mental health services provision in Malawi. PLOS ONE, 19(6), e0305341. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305341 (2024)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Kainja, J., Makhumula, C., Twabi, H. S., Gunde, A. M., & Ndasauka, Y. (2024). Cultural determinants of COVID-19 vaccines misinformation in Malawi. Palgrave Communications, 11(1), 1-6. (2024)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Foster Gondwe, Jimmy Kainja, Yamikani Ndasauka (2024) The Complex Interplay of Technology and Mental Health During COVID-19 (2024)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Kainja J (2024). Outsourcing Repression: Impunity and Harassment of Journalists in Malawi (2024)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Mmanga C, Ndasauka Y, Kainja J, Kondowe F, Mchenga M, Maliwichi L and Nyamali S (2023) The world is coming to an end! COVID-19, depression, and anxiety among adolescents in Malawi. Front. Psychiatry 13:1024793. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1024793. (2023)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Kainja, J (2023) Legal and Policy Gaps Affecting Digital
Rights in Malawi. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jh.v31i1.1 (2023)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Anthony M Gunde; Jimmy Kainja (2023) Digital Technologies, Elections and Campaigns in Malawi (2023)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Kainja, J. (2022) The Media and Freedom of Expression in Democratic Malawi: A Formality or Reality? In: Adeola, A., Mutua, M.W. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Democracy, Governance and Justice in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74014-6_15 (2022)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Kainja J, Ndasauka Y, Mchenga M, Kondowe F, M'manga C, Maliwichi L, Nyamali S. (2022) Umunthu, Covid-19 and mental health in Malawi. Heliyon. 2022 Oct 31;8(11):e11316. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11316. PMID: 36353175; PMCID: PMC9638767. (2022)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Kainja, J. (2021) Media Education, Democratisation and Media Capture at Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. In: Manthalu, C.H., Chikaipa, V., & Gunde, A.M. (eds). Education, Communication and Democracy in Africa: A Democratic Pedagogy for the Future (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003125440 (2021)
BOOK-CHAPTERS - Heyns, C., Tlakula, P., Fombad, C, and Kainja, J. (2019) The Right to Political Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa, Global Journal of Comparative Law. Vol. 8, Issue 2, p: 128-161. DIO: 10.1163/2211906X-00802202. (2019)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE - Allcock, A. & Kainja, J. (2011) Reimagining 21st Century Development in Malawi: Generating and Sharing Knowledge Beyond the Traditional Establishment. IDS Bulletin, Vol. 42 (5): 99-103. Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1759-5436.2011.00259.x (2011)
JOURNAL-ARTICLE