Government Renews Commitment to Press Freedom

22 June 2011

Maputo — The Mozambican government on Wednesday pledged that it will continue “to promote access to information and communication for all citizens, based on the principles of the freedom of the press, of expression and of opinion”.

Speaking at the opening of a meeting of the Consultative Council of the government’s press office (GABINFO), Deputy Justice Minister Alberto Nkutumula, representing Prime Minister Aires Ali, declared that the mass media “play an active role in the consolidation of national unity, in promoting the highest values of Mozambican identity, resting on good governance, the fight against corruption and against poverty, and in promoting the socio-economic development of the country”.

When citizens are informed, he added, “they are better able to take decisions and to implement the policies drawn up our government”. Informed by the media, citizens were also “better able to contribute with their knowledge to national development”.

The government, continued Nkutumula, wants to see “a more dynamic and pro-active media”, and regards the country’s media professionals “as our partners and of the main guarantors of the constitutional rights to information and freedom of expression”.

He recognised that the current international financial crisis also had a profound impact on the media, “but the constraints that arise from this should not be a source of lamentation, but should constitute challenges to be overcome so that we can view the future with new and promising perspectives”.

The Consultative Council, he said, was a moment “in which we share and socialize opinions, experiences, opportunities and challenges, always in order to find the most appropriate paths which lead to better and more efficient work”.

Among the themes to be discussed in the two day meeting are the current economic and financial situation of Mozambique and prospects for the future, the draft law on broadcasting, the shift from analog to digital broadcasting, and measures to hold back expenditure in the publicly owned media.

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