Namibia: Media Experts Urge NBC to Innovate

NAMIBIAN media experts have called for the financially troubled Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) to find innovative ways of raising revenue to address their workers’ plight.

They were speaking at a panel on ethics in media in the advent of digital media.

Namibian Sun news editor Mathias Haufiku said while the plight of journalists at NBC is a very regrettable situation based on the financial situation of the company, innovation and creativity will pull the state-owned broadcaster out of the woods.

“There are innovative ways to look at their business model,” he said.

Haufiku said it is imperative for NBC to find the best solution for the survival of the institution and cater for the plight of the journalists in the process.

Freelance journalist Tiri Masawi also reiterated that NBC is better placed to generate higher revenues bearing in mind its position as the dominant broadcaster in the country.

“The situation at NBC is regrettable and challenging for both the institution and the employees but in the end they have to find innovative ways of raising revenue and cater for the employees in the process,” Masawi said.

NBC’ director general Stanley Similo has said they are in a catch-22 as the institution is expected to make more money outside of its budget allocation from the government, yet it is classified as a non-commercial entity and is expected to provide services at a lower cost than commercialised broadcasters.

This call was supported by parliamentarians who said NBC should be allowed to be a commercial institution.

Similo last year said unless the funding model is reviewed and solved, the corporation will continue operating under constraints.

Despite the limited funding, the corporation has not been managing its finances well as the auditorgeneral has given the broadcaster adverse opinions for more than three consecutive years.

‘HULLE LIEG’

Meanwhile, Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu) secretary general Petrus Nevonga has called out the NBC leadership for claiming that all workers have been receiving annual notches on their salaries.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, Nevonga said:

“It is not true that all employees who are on total cost to the company are not getting a 13th cheque whereas it is included in their total package, hence media releases have misled the public with such wrong information,” he stressed.

This comes after the NBC management yesterday said workers received N$53 million in annual notches on their salaries.

Some workers however, admitted to The Namibian that they have received the money, while others refuted the claim.

NO CHELETE

The union and workers continue highlighting management’s N$5,4 million bonuses paid in November last year, saying the corporation must have money for them if the leadership could get such incentives.

However, the management says the money was for salary increments and bonuses backdated over five years.

Earlier, Similo explained the backdated pay for management, saying the decision was taken after NBC, a non-commercial entity, recorded an increase in revenue from N$83 million to more than N$100 million annually.

Similo also recently told the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts that they owe the government N$253 million in taxes, as well as N$184 million to a company for Namibia’s digital terrestrial television migration.

In addition to that, for further completion of the transformation, they need at least N$499 million more.

However, Similo on Tuesday told a press conference NBC has a debt of N$280 million which is historical, predominantly linked to pay-as-you-earn, dating back to 2003, which NBC could not pay at the time.

“We managed over time to make payments amounting to N$16 million to bring it down, but you will all agree that it will not come down as long as interest and penalties are added,” he said.

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