Malawi Parliament has re-established the Press Gallery Committee to enhance the relationship between Parliament, the media, the public and legislators.
The Press Gallery Committee has been inactive for several years now and this has led to the deterioration of the relationship between stakeholders in the legislative body during Parliament meetings.
Speaking at Mponela in Dowa on Saturday during a media workshop that revived the committee, Malawi Parliament chief public relations officer Leonard Mengezi said the committee was a pivotal partner to ably communicate to the public on parliamentary issues.
He said: “The gap that was there was not an amicable partnership because we never had a platform to discuss challenges as they emerged.”
The media and Parliament have since developed draft terms of reference (ToRs) to ensure the smooth running of the committee for the next two years.
The journalists have since elected leadership of the committee comprising Nation Publication Limited (NPL) assistant bureau chief in Lilongwe SuzgoKhunga as chairperson, Joseph Josiah of Malawi News Agency as vice-chairperson, Eunice Ndhlovu of taxpayer-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) as secretary and Steve Chilundu of MIJ FM as treasurer.
Members of the committee include JacquilineNhlema of Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS), ElitaNkalo of Capital FM, Peter Makawa of Television Malawi and Thomas Psyata of Galaxy Radio.
