BUJUMBURA January 19th (ABP) – The Minister of Communication, Information Technologies and Media, Mrs. Léocadie Ndacayisaba, paid a working and contact visit to the Burundi Press Agency on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 (ABP) located in Bujumbura City, to inquire about the working conditions of that institution, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
In his welcoming address, the Director General of the ABP, Mr. Nicolas Barajingwa, welcomed the presence of the supervising minister, an eloquent sign which testifies to his concern for this department created in 1976 and placed under supervision of his ministry.
The Director General of the ABP pointed out that the mission of the ABP is to build and consolidate a brand image of Burundi by serving complete, objective and quality information, adding that this mission is achievable thanks to the central editorial staff. based in Bujumbura and the one in charge of the network of provincial correspondents.
News collected by journalists is processed at the level of the ABP-INFOS service which publishes them in the ABP-INFOS newspaper twice a day, said Mr. Barajingwa, who pointed out that the same newspaper comes out once a day in version English, ABP-NEWS.
The ABP Director General also informed the Minister in charge of the Media that this institution has an operating budget to meet day-to-day needs, but those challenges are not lacking.
Concerning the cartage of the ABP, Mr. Barajingwa underlined that it is in a deplorable state, pointing out that the vehicle which is in good condition does not manage to cover all the movements of the journalists who must go to carry out reports on the ground. He also revealed that the provincial correspondents will have a breath of relief because, he added, motorcycles have been purchased for them thanks to the operating costs allocated to that agency.
Still on the subject of the challenges faced by the ABP, Mr. Barajingwa pointed out that the color lab service has obsolete equipment, the subscribers of the daily publication of the ABP-INFOS newspaper are few, not to mention that the news is served free of charge at certain services and personalities in order to carry the brand image of our country far and wide.
The ABP also has a very interesting photo archive but the agency does not take advantage of it. “We continue to advertise it to attract customers. We are also looking for donors who could help in the digitization of these photos for their proper preservation, “said the director general of the ABP.
Mr. Barajingwa did not fail to point out that a staff statute and internal rules of the ABP have been drawn up, but that the statute has not been finalized and implemented.
Returning to the issue of two ABP staff members who were arrested by the SNR (National Intelligence Service) for question of investigation, accused of having manipulated salaries, the Director General of ABP indicated that he had sent a letter to the supervising minister to seek his involvement in order to ask the Ministry in charge of Finance to create a commission which could help in the calculation of the salaries of ABP staff, in order to avoid the same errors.
The Minister of Communication, Information Technology and the Media, Ms. Léocadie Ndacayisaba, took note of the situation of the ABP as presented by its director general. She wanted to know what we plan to do for the proper functioning of the motorcycles that will soon be granted to the provincial correspondents. Here, the director general of the ABP replied that the agency does not have a fund specific to its operation like other institutions under the supervision of the ministry in charge of the Media, which is why the question of fuel for the operation of these motorcycles cannot find an answer without resorting to the Ministry of Finance.
Regarding the salary adjustment, the Minister in charge of the Media said that this issue is common almost in all the different ministries, noting that it is currently in the hands of the Ministry in charge of the Public Service to remedy it.
Note that the Minister of Communication, Information Technologies and the Media also paid such a visit to the National Radio-Television of Burundi (RTNB), to the Burundi News publications (PPB) and to the CIEP for the same causes.