BUJUMBURA December 16th (ABP) – The Minister of Communication, Information Technologies and Media, Mrs. Léocadie Ndacayisaba, with the delegate of the UNESCO regional office for Central Africa, Mr. Serge Banyimbe, opened on Tuesday December 14, at the Royal Palace hotel, consultations for the revision of the law governing the press in Burundi.
During that meeting organized for media officials, journalists and partners in the sector, Minister Ndacayisaba indicated that those consultations, launched in July, will continue for a large part of the socio-political actors to have a say on what will be the 8th law governing the press in Burundi. She expressed the wish that this law responds to the aspirations of media professionals, consumers of information and public authorities.
According to Mrs. Ndacayisaba, with the law of September 14, 2018 which governs the press in Burundi, the country has known an explosion in online journalism, social media and amateur journalists, to the extent that today the Burundian media landscape has more than 170 media outlets.
She pointed out that advertising and cinema, the communication of unverified information on products such as those relating to nutrition and health are regulated.
She further mentioned the precarious logistics of the media and pleaded for viable media that are capable of fulfilling their noble mission well.
As for the UNESCO delegate, he was delighted that this organization was associated in that activity and thanked the government of Burundi for this political will displayed, so that the Burundian media can work in a framework favorable to the freedom of the press, to freedom of expression, in safety and in complete protection.
It is worth noting that participants followed two presentations on the first day of those four-day consultations.
The first was on “the historical look at the process of media regulation” and the other was entitled “Notes on international standards of media laws or laws on freedom of expression, media freedom and safety of journalists” presented by Me Gérard Ntahe and Serge Banyimbe.
According to Me Ntahe, the first press law in Burundi dates from the colonial period. He showed that the various laws which followed one another coincided with various periods which marked the socio-political life of the country.