Parliamentary Committee on Media, Information and Technology has pledged to lobby for funding that will enable Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) to procure equipment to improve its operations.
The chairperson of the committee McNice Naliwa made the remarks after conducting a closed-door meeting with MBC management at the broadcasting house in Blantyre.
Said Naliwa: “We are pleased that MBC is doing well in forging ahead and changing the systems to make sure that Malawi is better informed. However we have been informed that the institution is facing some challenges with tax and pension arrears which they are still paying and at the same time the cost of the van they are intending to buy has risen because of the devaluation, we will therefore appeal to the government to support MBC by providing adequate funding.”
For his part, MBC Director General, George Kasakula, said the meeting was very important as it allowed members of the committee to appreciate the successes and the challenges the institution is facing as it is implementing a turnaround strategy.
“Our biggest problem is financing, we don’t have the money to do whatever we want to do, we need to buy new equipment to improve our service delivery such as computers, cameras and the rest of it and the welfare of our staff needs improvement. So this Parliamentary Committee is key in this process,” said Kasakula.
As part of its turnaround strategy, MBC has recently opened a second television channel, MBC2 On The Go, which is focusing on high-definition programming responsive to the needs of the youthful audience. The channel is now available on GOtv.
Reported by Simeon Boyce, MBC Online Services.
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