Kazako during the interface meeting.—Picture by Arkangel Tembo, MANA
By Brenda Nkosi, MANA
Minister of Information and Digitalization, Gospel Kazako says the media is an important partner that government cannot do without, adding that its growth was of utmost importance.
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Kazako said this on Friday after meeting with media owners and top managers from the Southern Region at Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre to address the challenges they face
“We need to see to it that the media industry is growing so that our country can also develop,” Kazako said in an interview, adding that the Fourth Estate was very crucial at the moment when globally people are struggling to survive.
“Our people are dealing with a lot of issues including high cost of living, cyclones and war in Ukraine and Russia,” he said, adding that these global phenomenon were also affecting many countries, citing an example of fuel hike.
Two of the media managers from Mibawa TV—Picture by Arkangel Tembo, MANA
“In Zambia and South Africa, fuel is more expensive than here. The price of fuel is determined globally by the Automatic Pricing Mechanism,” he said.
Kazako, therefore, called on Malawians to be patient with government, saying the problems are just temporary.
Founder and Owner of Angaliba Television and Radio, Dr. Rodrick Mulonya said in an interview that the interface meeting with the Minister was going to be important if government will seriously look at the issues they raised.
“We have several challenges which we would want our responsible minister to help including looking at the television model that Malawi is using.
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“The Communication Act and Policy doesn’t speak to the language of broadcasters and there are so many fees we have to pay to operate,” Mulonya said.
He said that the situation has forced about 16 television stations to close last year alone, a development, he said, is retrogressive in the development of media industry in the country.
The meeting has formulated a taskforce to follow up with government so that issues raised should be addressed.
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