‘Macra gets sued everyweek over enforcement’
Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (Macra) director general Daud Suleman has disclosed that the parastatal is overwhelmed with lawsuits as it strives to enforce the law in the sector.
Speaking during a panel discussion organised by the Public Relations Society of Malawi as part of the World Public Relations Day commemoration in Lilongwe on Tuesday, he touched on how Macra uses public relations to manage its engagement with the public.
Suleman cited the difficulties of balancing the institution’s legal mandate to ensure prescribed standards and public expectations, saying sometimes this creates conflict with stakeholders and the public in general.
He said: “For example, the revocation of broadcasting licences for some broadcasters and the pulling out of some foreign television content providers following some regulatory disputes are some instances that brought some backlash.
“We have to look at what the law says and enforce that while at the same time managing public expectations. So, it’s a balancing act.”
The event was graced by Minister of Tourism Vera Kamtukule who challenged the PR professionals and the public to not only promote positive images of their organisations and themselves, but also that of the country.
“What we say about our country contributes to the perception of people out there about Malawi and if one searches about this country and all they are getting is negative stories they will not be interested to come either as a tourist or as an investor,” said the minister.
In his remarks, the society’s president Benson Linje said the relatively new organisation was established to help strengthen PR systems in the country and ensure organisations embrace the professionals in their managerial positions.
He said information management should be prioritised to ensure the PR professionals are empowered to handle organisations’ information.
The World PR day is commemorated on 16th of July and this year’s commemoration was help under a theme, ‘the future of public relations in a changing world’. The commemoration was supported by Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority.
