BUJUMBURA November 2nd (ABP) – The Minister of Communication, Information Technology and Media Mrs. Léocadie Ndacayisaba hosted a press conference on Friday October 28, 2022 to present the achievements of her ministry during the first quarter (July to September) for fiscal year 2022-2023.
On the communication and media side, Minister Ndacayisaba indicated that with the aim of mobilizing the population for the execution of the PND 2018-2027, the fight against unemployment, the increase in production and tax compliance, the public media are committed to producing articles and programs or reports. According to her, these media were able to achieve their goals and even exceeded the percentage of 100%.
As part of the support for the PND, she reported that 12 local committees which were planned for the first quarter have been set up in the communes of the provinces of Bururi, Rumonge and Makamba. Those communities bring together local members of various social categories, namely administrators, political parties, religious denominations and representatives of young people and women, to achieve sustainable, inclusive and participatory development.
According to Mrs. Ndacayisaba, the media have also contributed to informing, educating and sensitizing the population on issues of health, hygiene, sanitation, family planning and the prevention of epidemics and pandemics. Planned radio broadcasts, television broadcasts, print and online media articles were produced and broadcast at a very satisfactory rate. She also added that programs, articles and reports have been produced and broadcast with the aim of sensitizing the population to increased production, tax compliance, the creation of cooperatives, environmental protection and desertification in through the Ewe Burundi Urambaye program, nutrition and others.
The media have also contributed to enhancing the visibility of government action and the various institutions and to carrying the country’s image far and wide. For RTNB, she said, 874 activities were covered, 731 articles were produced by ABP and 274 articles and 625 tweets and 363 website posts by PPBs. The CIEP also produced and broadcast 13 TUJIJUKE programs broadcast on the national radio and the IZERE and BUNTU radios. Alongside the productions made by the public media, the private media have largely contributed to sensitizing, educating, training and entertaining the people.
In the sector of information technologies and the post, Minister Ndacayisaba specifies that for the postal sector, the ministry had set itself the objective of improving infrastructure and equipment and it is within this framework that the postal office de Muyinga has been rehabilitated and a contract for the construction of the Murwi postal office in Cibitoke province has already been awarded. In the field of ICT, in order to continue to reduce the digital divide, and to optimize the already existing community telecentres, a program of social interest is planned in a pilot center and a market for the integration of this program of social interest is already allocated. That program will allow young people to enrich their knowledge and understand the role of ICT in their development.
In order to promote the use of ICT in Burundi, a financing agreement of 50 million dollars was signed between the Republic of Burundi and the international development association in favor of the support project for the foundations of the economy. digital and the project is being prepared for execution.
As part of the establishment of a legal framework governing the telecommunications and postal sector, a draft electronic communications and postal code has been drawn up and sent to the national legislation service for legal review before be sent to the government and parliament for analysis and adoption.
For SETIC, he continued to operationalize the Data Center and government platforms are now housed in the SETIC Data Center. Minister Ndacayisaba did not fail to point out that another rescue site is being set up. For the revitalization of ONATEL, terms of reference for an audit which should clearly show the state of affairs of the ONATEL company and the needs for its revitalization have been drawn up and the ministry specifies that it is in the process of seeking means for this audit.
In order to make the digital television broadcasting company in Burundi (STNB) operational, an operation and maintenance contract which will bind the government and the STNB has been drawn up and will be sent to the Council of Ministers for adoption. According to the Minister, the ministry has also carried out many initiatives with the aim of updating the legal framework. She said the ministry continued to refine the revision of the press law and put in place an access to information law. These two texts are already at an advanced stage and will soon be sent to the government for analysis. A draft decree reorganizing the RTNB has also been prepared to provide this institution with an updated text, taking into account the evolution of the media world, specifying that for the moment, the RTNB is governed by a text which dates from 1989.
Concerning the national coverage by the RTNB, new transmitters have been received and will soon be installed in Ngozi in order to allow the populations of the northern provinces to follow the broadcasts and programs of the national radio, indicating that these populations had difficulty receiving the RTNB for due to the obsolescence of its transmitters.