MBC refuses to transform

One of the issues civil society organisations (CSOs) raised in their petition to President Peter Mutharika last week was the opening up of the air waves by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).
The complaint about MBC being used as a political tool for the party in government is not new. It was a source of concern during the one party regime of Dr Kamuzu Banda. Bakili Muluzi used it too, during the 10 years he was in power. Late Bingu wa Mutharika with his DPP had a tight grip on it to the extent that MPs even refused to allocate funds to the public broadcaster. Joyce Banda, with her PP, was subtly using MBC to advance her image and party agenda. Although Peter Mutharika in not always on television or radio like his predecessors, the parading of chiefs and other pro-government individuals to discredit government critics and are all trappings of one-party regime hang over.
The lack of editorial independence and opening up of MBC airwaves is against the spirit of Communications Act and the Constitution. The Communications Act clearly spells out under Section 87 of the public mandate of MBC to operate without any bias or serve any political interests. Secondly, MBC ignores the Constitution which categorically states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression and that the media has the right to publish freely. This entails MBC to be neutral and serve public interests regardless of people’s political views. It is a platform for public discourse which makes MBC to be in a unique position. But the broadcaster is falling short of this mandate.
While CSOs have a valid point in asking government to open up MBC to all political players, other practical options need to be explored. They have to pressurise MBC to ensure the Communications Act is followed. They need to discuss and present a petition to MBC management to demand answers why the public broadcaster is not opening up to divergent views in line with the constitution and Communications Act. We know government has a problem. But MBC management has a problem too. They operate with reference to what government would want to hear instead of being professional and respecting the law. MBC has an obligation under the law to serve everyone. But it uses pro-government agents such as chiefs and individuals to advance government agenda and discredit those with dissenting views. As a result, they fall short of performing to the expected standard because they owe their allegiance to political leaders.
Another petition should be presented to MPs, especially the Parliamentary Committee on Media and Communications. One wonders what this committee does. If members knew their role, they should have summoned MBC management to explain why the public broadcaster continues to be unprofessional. MPs have abandoned their oversight role. If they exercised their oversight role, the issue of MBC unprofessional conduct would long been resolved. Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) is equally a failed organisation. It has abandoned its responsibility to ensure that MBC follows a Code of Ethics as enshrined in the Communications Act.
It has been a norm in Malawi for presidents to appoint MBC chief executive officers. According to the Communications Act, the board of directors is responsible for hiring and firing the CEO and not the president. For future appointments, CSOs should ensure that the president does not overstep his / her mandate. They should team up with interested parties to challenge the presidential decision in court for acting outside the ambit of the law.
The battle to free MBC needs practical action.
The promise by Mutharika that his government will adopt “business unusual” attitude has already fallen back. Nothing tangible is happening on the ground. Many public institutions are sick! This includes MBC which has failed to transform itself to suit the democratic environment.