Media Sector Reform Committee converges

A Rwanda Media Sector Reform Committee meeting held yesterday agreed on the need to create a Communications Regulatory body. The body, which is to be separate from the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency, will be charged with the regulation of the communication sector including Telecoms, ICT and Media. In an interview with The New Times, Ignatius Kabagambe, Director General in the Office of the Prime Minister, said that media and communication are unique areas which need to be regulated separately, for efficiency. “The committee agreed that the regulation of media and communication sector is too broad to be mixed with the regulation of other utilities like water and electricity,” he said. “The committee recommended the establishment of a separate body that will handle the regulation of media and communication.” The recommendation will, however, have to undergo a vetting process before it is adopted, Kabagambe said. According to a press release, the meeting chaired by Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Protais Musoni, reviewed among others, the progress of the reform implementation in transforming the state broadcaster, ORINFOR into a public broadcaster and improving government communication. The steering committee also reviewed the draft communication strategy. It resolved that a communication operational plan to foster public awareness and stakeholder ownership be worked out and implemented. A number of bills and laws in line with media sector reform are now before parliament. These include; access to information bill, the revised media law, the Media High Council law and the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency law. Kabagambe was tasked to coordinate the communication process of the reform implementation, according to the release. Ends

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Media Sector Reform Committee converges