PM reiterates stand on Bunge coverage airtime reduction

ALVAR MWAKYUSA in Dodoma

THE Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, has reiterated the government’s stand on reducing airtime on live coverage of the National Assembly sessions by the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC).

The Premier said the decision was made in good faith to save costs and enable more people to follow recorded proceedings of the House at night when they are done with their daily obligations.

Mr Majaliwa made the remarks while responding to a question by the Leader of the Opposition in the House, Mr Freeman Mbowe (Hai-Chadema), who had tasked the government to clarify on the matter.

“The decision to reduce the airtime was reached by both the government and the management of TBC,” the Premier explained during the customary question and answer session to the PM.

He added: “This issue was well explained by the Minister for Information, Culture, Sports and Arts, Nape Nnauye, during the special programme on TBC last night.”

Appearing on the programme on Wednesday night, Mr Nnauye stressed that the reduction of the airtime was done after a thorough research on the pros and cons of live coverage of the House. He went on to clarify that parts of the proceedings will be recorded and aired at night in a special programme to be known as ‘Today in the Parliament.’

“There are three main factors for cutting down the coverage one of them being high costs; our study has as well revealed that many people will be able to follow the proceedings at night,” Mr Nnauye said during the programme.

He noted further the study conducted by the government found out that many employees in public and private sectors have been watching the proceedings during the day and fail to execute their duties effectively.

The minister went on to point that much as there are some quarters, which have been opposing the move, it should be noted that very few countries in the Commonwealth air live coverage of their parliaments.

“If you go to countries such as United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada they only broadcast for few hours a week,” he explained.

The state broadcaster has been airing all proceedings of the House since the year 2005 at a cost of 4.2bn/- per annum, an amount described by the minister as too high given the move by the Fifth Phase government to cut costs.