Minister tasks TBC new board to draft law

MINISTER for Information, Communication and Information Technology, Nape Nnauye on Thursday, directed the new board members of Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) to work on a process of crafting a new law specifically for the corporation.

The move, according to the minister, will help in addressing a number of challenges facing the state broadcaster.

He made the directive in Dar es Salaam while launching the board whose members were appointed by him last month.

“Since the TBC was established under the Public Corporation Act of 1992, it is high time that you work on drafting its own Act that will outline its operations, ways to address workers’ concerns and other key issues.

“Enacting the TBC Act is one of the main things that will make this board be remembered for years. I am ready to assist you throughout the process and this should be your top priority,” he stated.

Mr Nape also directed the board to put in place a system to address various issues impeding the corporation’s operations.

Tanzania Standard (Newspapers) Limited (TSN) Managing Director, Ms Tuma Abdallah, is one of the seven members of the TBC board, which is led by Mr Stephen Kagaigai.

Other members of the TBC board include Ms Mwanjaa Lyezia, Mr Justine Mashimba, Mr Innocent Mungi, Ms Amina Mollel, Mr Cosmas Mwaisombe, and Dr Hilderbrand Shayo.

TBC is owned by the government through the Treasury Registrar, a department within the Ministry of Finance that holds 100 per cent of shares.

The interest of the government is to use TBC to reinforce the government’s efforts in nation-building.

Another area that the minister highlighted for the board to work on was to heighten supervision of the partnership between TBC and Startime, which according to him has started bearing fruits.

“When addressing issues that are affecting this corporation use your capability to create systems that will be there for years to come and for anyone to operate even in your absence,” Mr Nape advised.

The minister further said it was crucial to revive the external radio service of the corporation just as it was during the independence struggle.

“As we are all aware that Kiswahili is now widely spoken, so it is crucial to consider commencing providing such services again,” he said.

In response, Mr Kigaigai stated that the board was committed to implementing the minister’s directives to address several issues at TBC.

“Our first priority is to craft the TBC Act that will outline and help tackle a number of challenges,” he explained.

TBC is a Public Service Broadcaster established by Government Order in 2007 and became operational on the 1st of July 2007 replacing the then Tanzania Broadcasting Services – Taasisi ya Utangazaji Tanzania (TUT). TUT was established in the year 2002 pursuant to Public Corporation Act No 2 of 1992, Government Notice No 23 of 14th June 2002.