Open up—Mussa challenges MBC

Commentators have hailed Minister of Information and Communications Technology Henry Mussa who on Wednesday challenged Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) to open up to the opposition as the May 21 Tripartite Elections approach.

The minister made the call on Wednesday during his familiarisation tour of MBC Television’s Kwacha offices in Blantyre.

He said MBC as a national broadcaster has an obligation to provide credible and accurate information on issues of national importance.

But Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi chapter chairperson Teresa Ndanga, while welcoming Mussa’s call, said she hoped it was not mere talk and that MBC will heed the call.

She said: “If indeed he is sincere in what he is saying, that will be really appreciated. As Misa Malawi, we have for a long time been calling for MBC to be freed and that has not happened.

“We give the minister the benefit of the doubt; he is new

[as Minister of Information]

and maybe he wants to see change. We can only wait and see if he is sincere and if what he said will translate into action at MBC.”

Ndanga also challenged the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (Macra) as a regulator to ensure MBC is professional.

“If MBC ignores the call, the laws are very clear. We expect that Macra as a regulator of all broadcasters in the country should do its job. Sometimes we feel like it only points fingers at private broadcasters and turns a blind eye at the public broadcaster.

“We also expect the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to use its legal mandate to look at how broadcasters conduct themselves during this election period. On our part, we urge our members (MBC included) to always strive for professionalism,” she added.

According to Mussa, failure by MBC to give people accurate information has resulted in the nation believing in fake news and speculations from social media.

The minister also challenged the public broadcaster to focus on its roles of educating, informing and entertaining the nation, as well as being innovative and exploring means of improving its income generation to operate efficiently.

Said Mussa: “As a national broadcaster, MBC has to rise above petty party politics. It should make sure it covers the nation sincerely in a professional and accountable manner; and that it is always factual. This business of creating stories where there are none should be a thing of the past. Let us do a bit of research on matters of national interest, we don’t benefit by [telling] people lies. That’s counterproductive.”

He encouraged those [in opposition parties] whose contents have been denied space on MBC radio or television to report to him, adding that issues of national interest should be shared if the nation is to grow.

Meanwhile, University of Malawi’s Chancellor College political scientist Ernest Thindwa has described Mussa’s call as good news “on face value”.

He said: “This is good public relations for the minister, unless he proves us wrong. MBC has been used as a mouthpiece for the ruling regime for a long time and it has become a symbol of abuse of public resources. Even people working there have their images jeopardised.

“Malawians have lost trust in the public broadcaster and are opting for private media. MBC cannot stand on its own financially because even the business sector is shunning it. Even Macra is failing to exercise its legal mandate because it has also been manipulated and politicised from appointment to practice. The ruling regime has a grip on these public institutions and they continue to drain public resources.”

On the challenges that MBC is facing in terms of staff advancement, motivation, lack of equipment and other financial issues such as pension remittance, Mussa said his ministry will engage the MBC board to find ways, means and options to see how they can work together in resolving the issues.

In his remarks, MBC director general Aubrey Sumbuleta committed to provide fair coverage to all players in the electoral process, particularly during the official campaign period.

“The elections concern everybody and as MBC we are ready to give space to all stakeholders in the election during official campaign period. For your own information, we have just recruited stringers to be deployed in all districts of the country to make sure that all players are covered,” he said.

According to Section 109 (2) of the 2016 Malawi Communication Act, MBC is mandated to function without any political bias and independent of any person or entity, and provide balanced coverage of any elections and operate with regard to the public interest.

MBC has been accused of biased coverage for years.

In February, main opposition Malawi Congress Party reported MBC to Macra seeking intervention on alleged biased reporting and programming.

However, Macra dismissed the complaint, asking MCP to lodge its complaint with MBC. MCP described the Macra response as strange as the institution is mandated to act on media houses that flout provisions of the Communications Act.

In the 2016/17 financial year, the broadcaster told the same cluster that they owed MRA K4.5 billion tax in arrears and sought a government bailout.