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DRCongolese Press Ministry Suspends Media Authority's Programme

Posted on: Monday, 5 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

Text of report by DRCongo's UN-sponsored Radio Okapi on 2 September

[Presenter] Fresh disagreement has been reported between the High Media Authority and the Ministry of Press and Information. This time it is about the broadcast One Party, One Agenda, which was initiated by the High Media Authority two weeks ago so as to give the 200 Congolese political parties the opportunity to make known their political agendas.

The High Media Authority describes the suspension of the broadcast on the Congolese National Radio-Television Channel by the Ministry of Press and Information as a grave prejudice to the freedom of expression.

High Media Authority Chairperson Modeste Mutinga has called on the mediation institutions to make a decision. He spoke to Eugene Kabambi.

[Mutinga] Article 19 of the law on political parties is clear about this, in that political parties must express themselves in freedom and at any time in the public media, with the High Media Authority being responsible for the implementation of that provision.

[Kabambi] The Ministry of Press and Information thinks that the High Media Authority, which is the regulatory authority, runs the risk of being both judge and defendant if the broadcast gets out of hand some day.

[Mutinga] No! The Ministry of Press and Information misinterprets the instruments of the law. We are an institution supporting democracy. Striving to express themselves is a need for political parties, chiefly those that do not have sufficient exposure in the public media. If we strive so they can have exposure, it is according to the will of all the parties at the Inter-Congolese Dialogue.

[Presenter] On the part of the Ministry of Press and Information, they think that the High Media Authority, which is a regulatory institution, cannot have its own broadcasts, because when a problem arises it could be both judge and defendant. Joseph Potopoto, the communication adviser to Press and Information Minister Mova Sakanyi, spoke to Kelly Kute.

[Potopoto] No organ of the state can substitute for media professionals in the production of a programme. As you know, the High Media Authority is a regulatory authority and it is not to be both judge and defendant. If the High Media Authority produces a programme that gets out of hand, I do not know who will regulate at that point and that is also important. [Passage indistinct]

We denounce that. Therefore, we appeal to media professionals so they can protect their jobs. It is up to them to produce programmes. The High Media Authority is there to regulate. The Ministry of Press and Information is there to control. The Congolese Media Organization is to operate as a self-regulating system. Only in that kind of spirit will the arena of the press world better shine forth at this time of democracy.

Source: BBC Monitoring Africa

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