A survey conducted by Rwanda Governance Advisory Council (RGAC) has shown that public awareness of the role of the Media High Council (MHC) has increased from 7.1% to a staggering 45% within a short period of one year.

According to Patrice Mulama, the Executive Secretary of MHC, this achievement was realized because of the institution’s much-publicized new roles as an independent body, as well as an awareness campaign through radio and television programmes.

"Until 2009, MHC was operating under the Ministry of Information (MININFOR) and the public was not fully aware of its duties as a media regulator.

"However, at the start of this year, MININFOR handed over 80% of its media-related roles to MHC which made it a stronger institution and more accountable to the public,” Mulama said in a phone interview Thursday.

"With the institute’s mandate having been broadened and the services it provides to the public enlarged, it became an imperative duty to conduct awareness campaigns to sensitize the public on how they can access its services”.

Since assuming MININFOR’s roles, MHC was tasked with all media-related roles including protecting, regulating and promoting it as well as ensuring that journalists are constantly aware of their responsibilities.

"To further increase the public’s awareness, we have upgraded our website to include more features; we have also published a media regulatory magazine that will be out soon,” Mulama said.

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