By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, April 16, Mana: Acting Director of Ministry of Information and Digitalization, Arthur Chipenda has called upon District Information Officers (DIOs) to equip themselves with skills which would enable two-way communication between government and the people to foster people’s participation in governments development agenda.

He made the remarks during the opening of a three-day training workshop at Mponela organized by the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) and the Ministry of Information and Digitalization aimed at equipping DIOs with skills on reporting for radio.

Chipenda said the training marks government’s commitment to ensuring that communication was placed at the top of the government development agenda through local authorities.

“For most people, the first contact they have with government is through the district councils. And in councils, government is investing finances, implementing projects and activities for the socio-economic transformation of the people. DIOs must therefore ensure visibility of these for people’s participation.

“On the other hand, government needs to be getting feedback from the people. So, we want to strengthen the bridge so that if people have any issues concerning the government’s development initiatives or interventions, DIOs should provide that platform for appropriate government’s interventions,” he said.

Thanking NLGFC for supporting the training, Chipenda urged the DIOs to make sure public information was always available to the public in support of government’s developmental agenda.

Executive director for NLGFC Dr. Kondwani Santhe saId the team has the responsibility of promoting council’s accountability, transparency, and trust and a responsibility in changing wrong narratives which break public trust and confidence.

“Sometimes people will deliberately twist facts. For example, Community Development Fund has only K 5 million for bursaries which in normal circumstances is not enough for each need within the constituency.

“So, when all the money has been channeled towards bursaries, there may emerge narratives suggesting otherwise, thereby creating confusion and mistrust. Therefore, it is your responsibility to change these narratives by providing accurate information on all projects and government initiatives,” he said.

The training is being facilitated by Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).

Director General for MBC, George Kasakula said this was an exciting development as it would mean more content for the corporation, the masses and help in opening councils.

“We are thinking of having a council bulletin which will be airing issues happening at the councils ranging from budgets, expenditures, programmes, and other social economic issues. So, we are very excited about this development.

“But for this to be possible, you as DIOs need to be active in this initiative. To my colleagues at MBC, let us work with the DIOS in good faith,” he pointed out.

DIO for Zomba, Solister Mogha said the training would help in expanding the reporting skills for the DIOs by equipping them with technical requirements and skills required in reporting for electronic and broadcast media.

He said would benefit both the DIOs and the people they serve.

“The training will expose us to a new dimension of reporting for radio and television as we have mostly been biased towards print.

“This is good for our professional development but also for the benefit of the people because millions of Malawians still depend on radio and television for information,” Mogha added.