Macra yet to act on MBC

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) is this week expected to pass its verdict on Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)’s conduct in disregarding ethics by airing obscene content against Vice-President Saulos Chilima.

Macra communications manager Clara Ngwira, in an interview yesterday, said the decision was arrived at following a hearing that took place last Wednesday in Blantyre between boards of the two institutions.

The taxpayer-funded broadcaster came under criticism when, during their programming, it aired offensive content which disparaged the estranged Veep.

But Ngwira said since the incident occurred during the official campaign period, they involved the Elections Broadcasting Monitoring and Complaints Committee (EBMCC) in the hearing chaired by Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioner Moffat Banda.

She said: “The meeting took place and Macra board will make a decision. Take note that the Elections Broadcasting Monitoring and Complaints Committee was involved, considering that the issue has happened during an election period. So, Macra was not alone when meeting MBC.”

Macra summoned the State broadcaster last week following airing of the offensive content in its 7pm Chichewa television news bulletin on May 11.

In a written response yesterday, MBC director-general Aubrey Sumbuleta confirmed meeting Macra and that they are waiting for the outcome from Macra.

“MBC accepted responsibility of the most unfortunate incident and reiterated the public apology we issued to all Malawians after the incident,” he said.