The National Union of the Press of Congo (UNPC), the umbrella body of the press in the DRC, elected a new president on September 20, 2024: Kamanda Wa Kamanda Muzembe, a former journalist for national television and Radio France Internationale (RFI). This election was held on the occasion of the 10th congress of the organization, responsible for the self-regulation of Congolese media. The new boss inherits a sector that has been in the grip of a deep crisis for many years, making his mission particularly difficult.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
At the congress of the National Union of the Press of Congo (UNPC), almost all professionals are unanimous on the ease with which one becomes a journalist in DRC. ” The imposture has been invited into this work because of the fragility of the access points, he says. We must work rigorously to raise these access points, so that only the best ones get through “, explains Willy Kalengayi, journalist and head of a television channel.
” To be the fourth estate, you have to be worthy »
The problem, however, is not only with regard to entry into the profession: even some veterans engage in abuse. The journalist sometimes writes things knowing that they are false, all so that he can be approached, unfortunately with money.deplores Michel Museme, a congressman, journalist and press boss. It hurts me so very much. It doesn’t seem like the noble profession we learned about in school anymore. “.
The project is huge and Kamanda Wa Kamanda, the new president, has chosen his priorities: ” The priority is to clean up the corporation a little, to avoid having a catch-all in the corporation of journalists. They say that we are the fourth estate, but to be the fourth estate you have to be worthy. “The other priority is also to identify professional journalists in a country where press cards have stopped being issued for about two years.
Also readKamanda Wa Kamanda Muzembe, reporter for RFI in the DRC since 2001: “I have spent my whole life in information”