Briefing: Burundi Media - A thirty months sentence and a suspended radio show
The Briefing, Issue #26, Thursday, January 31, 2020
BURUNDI IN THE HEADLINES
Dear Readers,
Today Bubanza High Court has sentenced the 4 Iwacu reporters(Agnès Ndirubusa, Christine Kamikazi, Egide Harerimana, and Térence Mpozenzi) to two years and six months’ imprisonment and each of them fined BIF one million. Adolphe Masabarakiza, their driver has been acquitted.
The founder of Iwacu said in a tweet that they will appeal to the Court of Appeal which will rule on the merits in the second degree.
That was not the only news about the media industry today, later we heard that the Burundi National Communication Council (CNC) suspended Zinduka, a Bujafm radio show until further notice. "This program contains obscenities which run counter to respect for Burundian manners and culture," said Nestor Bankumukunzi the CNC president.
Buja FM is an intuitive radio station with some of the country’s leading radio programs in their day-long program schedules. They programs are popular across the country with traffic from thousands of listeners which make Buja FM a definitely popular radio especially for a young and urban audience.
Besides that, it was heart-warming today to learn that Burundian Youtuber Hamissi Ngabo got the "Silver Award" through his channel Ihuriro TV (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCams3iITKJ9uav1ISvRejwg), he is the very first Burundian to receive that recognition, his Youtube channel has over 100 thousand subscribers now.
In other news
Mr. Désiré Musharitse is the new CEO of the Burundian Investment Promotion Agency (API), he replaces Serge Nsabimana. Among priorities for the new CEO will be the revision of the Investment Code, Revision of the Decree establishing, organizing operations of API, decentralization of API services in the provinces. and Fundraising for the computerization of Company registration and filing
Burundi host the 4th meeting (30-31 / 01/2020) of the Joint Regional Coordination Committee of the capacity-building project on trade facilitation and border control in East Africa
IN THE REGION
East African Community Partner States are in the process of harmonizing critical policies and putting in place the requisite institutions to attain a single currency for the region by 2024 as outlined in the EAC Monetary Union Protocol.
EAC Secretary General Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko said that the Bill for the establishment of the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI) had already been assented to by the Summit of Heads of State, adding that the EAMI would later be transformed into the East African Central Bank that would issue the single currency.
“The establishment of this institute will help to provide impetus towards the formation of the East African Monetary Union, which is the third pillar of our integration,” said Amb. Mfumukeko.
Amb. Mfumukeko disclosed that the Council of Ministers had approved the EAC Domestic Tax Harmonization Policy, adding that proper implementation of the policy would reduce tax competition thereby enhancing cross-border trade and investment in the region.
On the Financial Sector, the SG said that the Community had developed requisite legal instruments (Bills) for the insurance and microfinance sub-sector and strategies for implementation of financial education and insurance certification.
“Further, we implemented the financial market infrastructure for payment and settlement systems as well as finalized regional regulations for portability of pension benefits and consumer protection,” he added.
Amb. Mfumukeko was giving his New Year’s Address to the Staff of EAC Organs and Institutions spread across East Africa from the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak sparked by a new virus in China that has been exported to more than a dozen countries as a global emergency Thursday after the number of cases spiked more than tenfold in a week. The U.N. health agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response. China first informed WHO about cases of the new virus in late December. To date, China has reported more than 7,800 cases including 170 deaths. Eighteen other countries have since reported cases, as scientists race to understand how exactly the virus is spreading and how severe it is. (AP)