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MCT urges scribes to train
2006-10-26 09:05:49
By George Ramadhan, PST, Mwanza
Media Council of Tanzania yesterday appealed to media practitioners in the country to seek professional training before a proposed legislation on the profession becomes operational.
The government has declared its determination to set up the law to check the operations of unqualified and untrained media practitioners.
The Bill, to pave way for the proposed legislation is expected to be forwarded to parliament next April for debate and subsequent approval.
”We need to get prepared as soon as possible, to cope up with the forthcoming changes,” said MCT Secretary General, Anthony Ngaiza. He was officiating over a meeting of media purveyors based in Mwanza.
The proposed law is expected to stipulate standard qualifications for individuals in the profession.
According to Ngaiza, untrained journalists would be penalised for practicing the trade and risk jail terms.
The official advised individuals interested in the profession to pursue training, at least to the diploma level before the enactment of the law.
Mwanza Press Club Chairman Jimmy Luhende hailed positive government moves to develop the legislation but insisted that key stakeholders need to be fully involved in every stage of drafting the laws.
’’I personally support the law, but the government was supposed to involve us from the early stages, otherwise we can adopt it blindly and find ourselves at the losing end,” said Luhende.
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