Tanzania hosts Network of Independent Media Councils in Africa meeting
NIMCA
The continental body, the Network of Independent Media Councils in Africa (NIMCA) inaugurates its Technical Team in Dar es Salaam today, ahead of its maiden conference planned for May 2025 in Tanzania.
‘We are going to bring the world to Tanzania,’ said Ernest Sungura, Chairman of NIMCA yesterday.
The inaugural meeting being held today would ensure clarity of purpose for members of the Technical Team, orienting them with assigned roles and responsibilities.
It was resolved at the establishment of NIMCA in Cape Town in May 2024 at the African Media Councils meeting hosted by the Press Council of South Africa that an invitation to attend the 2025 Conference should be extended to the African Union (AU) and other African regional groupings such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa, among others.
Thirteen countries from East, West and southern Africa resolved to form this new body to unite independent media content regulators across the continent at the Cape Town meeting. NIMCA convenes regular meetings to discuss and strengthen media media freedom, ethics and public accountability in Africa
‘This crucial gathering [today] brings together NIMCA’s Technical Team and Board Members to establish the Network’s operational framework … in preparation for the 2025 Conference which is expected to convene in Tanzania,’ Sungura said.
The Technical Team members appointed with approval by the NIMCA Board are Elizabeth Wachuka (Kenya), Derek Murusuri (Tanzania), Josephat Mwanzi (Tanzania) and Bryan Tosh (Uganda).
Sungura, who is Executive Secretary to the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT), also welcomed Technical Team member Victor Bwire, who is Director of Training at the Kenya Media Council (KMC).
The appointed team members bring unique skills and international experience and perspectives to the Network’s planning and intention to achieve its strategic objectives.
Sungura, who successfully managed the Tanzania Media Fund, now the Tanzania Media Foundation, is assisted by MCT’s Head of its Zanzibar Office Ziada Kilobo as Secretary to NIMCA’s Board. Kilobo commands a wealth of experience in media sustainability.
The MCT was assigned to convene the NIMCA Secretariat and also requested to start preparations for hosting its inaugural Conference with backing from UNESCO and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).
NIMCA signifies unprecidented strides towards a freer, increasingly professional and credible media landscape across Africa.
Other participants at today’s meeting included Izak Minnaar (South Africa), Kennedy Mambwe (Zambia) and Michael Power and Wendy Trott from ALT Advisory Africa (South Africa).
Today’s inaugural meeting is taking place at UNESCO’s offices in Dar es Salaam.
