Minister Kazako vows to ‘sanitise’ Malawi public broadcaster MBC: Sumbuleta says ‘we are professionals’

Newly-appointed Minister of Information Gospel Kazako has warned that there will be casualties Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) as government will restructure it in what he calls to “sanitise the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster so that it runs professionally.

Kazako , a former MBC broadcaster before he went on to establish his  multi-award winning  Zodiak Broadcasting Station, toured  MBC Television on Wednesday as part of his  familiarisation tour since his appointment last week.

 

The Information Minister, who has since resigned as Managing Director of Zodiak, said he will ensure that MBC runs in a professional and independent from political manipulation as was the case during the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) regime.

“MBC belongs to people of Malawi and Malawi belongs to all Malawians. We want everyone to have equal opportunities,” said Kazako.

“Our President has been saying that we need to create a Malawi that gives equal opportunities to people on merit thus disregarding social background, party affiliation, tribe or region where one is coming from,” he explained.

Kazako said there will be a functional and position review at MBC to ensure it is run in a professional way as a public broadcaster it is legally mandated to be.

MBC director general, Aubrey Sumbuleta said the institution was ready to embrace change and correct previous mistakes where possible.

“Realistically, as professionals [sic], there are areas where we have done well and some we have not.

“That is a point of reflection that the minister referred to and certainly as professionals we will go back to the drawing board look at where we did well and where we did not and not repeat the same mistakes that were done,” said Sumbuleta.

Meanwhile, Minister Kazako also said he will soon operationalise the Access to Information (ATI) law to ensure that Malawians know what is happening in all sectors of the country.

He said ATI is one of the pillars of the Tonse Alliance led government to ensure transparency and accountability.

“This government is fully aware that it is here on trust and there is no reason for them to hide anything. The ATI will be operationalised very well and very quickly,” said Kazako.

“This government has come and Access to Information will be there,” he said.

The operationalise actually awaits the Minister’s approval as former pesident Peter Mutharika already assented  to it in February 2017 after parliamenr passed it in December 2016. The roll out was not set by the DPP.

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