MBC says on closure verge due to poor funding from budget

Officials from state controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) says it is on the verge of closing down due to inadequate funding from the government.

The officials, who appeared before the Budget and Finance parliamentary cluster committee on Friday asked members of parliament to lobby for more funding for the state controlled broadcaster.

MBC is in huge debts due to failure by some government ministries and departments to pay for advertising services as well as shunning of advertising services by some organisations due to the broadcaster’s relentless propaganda for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

More than half of the journalists working for MBC are DPP loyalists.

Chairman of the cluster committee Sosten Gwengwe asked parastatals to embark on income generating activities to sustain their operations in view of poor funding from the government.