Parliament Tuesday passed the Communications Bill, after making a number of changes to the original bill which former minister of information, Jappie Mhango, tabled in the House in March this year.
One of the notable changes to the original bill is that appointments to boards of Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) and Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) have to be approved by Public Appointments Committee of Parliament.
The amendments were presented to the House by Chairperson of Media, Information and Communications Committee of Parliament, Samuel Kawale.
Kawale said the committee decided that the President remains the appointing authority.
“However, the committee was of the view that it was important for there to be checks and balances in the appointment process to ensure that the law is being followed and that qualified individuals are being appointed as board members,” he said.
Added Kawale: “The committee further recommends that it should be mandatory for the President to have regard to gender equality and the need for continuity when appointing the members.”
The committee also recommended that Consolidated ICT Regulatory Management System (Cirms) machine, must be limited to service assurance, consumer protection and quality assurances.
“Much as it is imperative for Macra to have powers to electronically monitor compliance and be able to enforce the provisions of the bill, there is need to guard against contraventions to privacy of individuals and against abuse of capabilities of such measures as Cirms,” Kawale said.
All the changes were adopted and the bill was passed.
Information Minister, Patricia Kaliati, who said the new law will improve the communication sector, said the involvement of Pac in appointments to the three bodies is just a continuation of what happens in others bodies.
“We don’t have any problem. We have been doing that with the rest of the appointments,” Kaliati said.
Once assented to, the new law, will among others, recognise the convergence of technologies and services for telecommunications, broadcasting and information through establishment of technology and service-neutral licensing regimes.
The law will also remove unnecessary barriers to entry, attract investments in the communications sector and encourage the adoption of new services and technologies within the communications sector.
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