Gitega November 29th (ABP) – The President of the National Media Council (CNC), Mrs. Vestine Nahimana, announced that the press bill provides for the granting of the press card exclusively to the journalist with the contract of work linking him with the medium to which he performs.
Mrs. Nahimana made this known during the general assembly of communication and media, 2022 edition, held from November 25 to 26, 2022, in Gitega, the political capital of Burundi (center of the country). She said the measure is intended to discourage private media executives who hire volunteer “journalists” without paying them in return. They take advantage of the unemployment situation that prevails among young people to enrich themselves on the backs of the latter, which corresponds to an exploitation of man by man, she lamented. Ms. Nahimana could not have been clearer in explaining that the CNC takes issue with such media, specifying that the institution for which she is responsible advocates that each journalist should work with dignity, benefiting, among other things, from salary, social security and medical care.
In addition, the president of the CNC expressed her indignation with regard to journalists who display indecent behavior in reporting circles. “We observe journalists without identification or badges, others who gather in front of high personalities, thus cutting off their view, especially during festivities of great notoriety”, she regretted. She called on media managers to come back to their men and women journalists to do battle, once and for all, with these inconveniences. As for the participants in the assizes of the Estates general mentioned above, they deplored the reduction in the quality of the services of Burundian journalists. They recommended to the same officials to invest in remedying it. Addressing the technical and financial partners of the ministry in charge of the media, they requested their support to revitalize that media sector. “This sector also requires the specialization of journalists in different areas of national life to be able to enlighten the public on these aspects, they pleaded. The work of these meetings was closed by the Minister in charge of communication and the media, Mrs. Léocadie Ndacayisaba.