In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Superior Council for Audiovisual and Communication (CSAC) – the Media Regulatory Authority – has new leaders, after five years of slippage in the mandate of outgoing leaders. Christian Bosembé is the new media policeman replacing Christophe Tito Ndumbi.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
Christian Bosembé was appointed president of the CSAC on Friday, November 25, in Kinshasa, during a plenary session which took place in a tense atmosphere.
The vote was not on the agenda of this plenary which only brought together 12 of the 15 members, but that did not prevent the opening of the session by the dean. Interrupted by a motion calling for the election of new leaders, he opened the breach to elect the five members to lead the institution.
A list headed by Christian Bosembe, delegate of the presidency to the CSAC, received the consensus of nine members. Two disgruntled members slammed the door, denouncing a forcing on the background of violation of procedure, in particular the absence of new internal regulations validated by the Constitutional Court.
A start that does not bode well, believes Achille Kadima, journalist and press owner: ” Anything that starts from a biased process can only be distorted. What’s behind this rush ? There was a lack of debate, a lack of negotiation between different members of the plenary… I wonder how such an institution will work and regulate the media. It’s not going to help the profession, it’s not going to help the country. The CSAC is among the two institutions called upon to play a key role in the framework of the elections “.
Bruno Mbolison, vice-president of the CSAC, denies this and is already talking about the challenges that await the new team: ” The other members did not have to wait for those who were absent to act. It is the law of the majority. Today, it is necessary to revive this CSAC. The Congolese media space is infested with content that is sometimes unfit for consumption. National cohesion is fundamentally threatened today. The CSAC will have a heavy task to work towards empowering the Congolese media. It will be up to the CSAC to clean up the media space, but our role is not to regulate journalists “.
Press rights organizations are expected to react in the coming days.
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