The Journalists Union of Malawi (JUMA) would like to join hands with the National Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (NAMISA) in asking the State President, Prof. Peter Mutharika, to reverse his decision to transfer, without explanation, Dr. Benson Tembo away from the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).
JUMA feels the incessant political interference at the public broadcaster causes distress to employees and that it exerts undue psychological pressures that are stimulated by the uncertainty of the security of their respective jobs.
All this is contrary to the speech the president made at the MBC Golden Jubilee Celebrations on 5th December, 2014 where he promised not to interfere in the operations of the broadcaster.
In his speech, the president condemned the victimization of MBC staff which he acknowledged to have “affected several innocent hard working and patriotic professionals who once worked with MBC”.
Unfortunately, JUMA has noted with regret how politicians from all the country’s ruling parties have manipulated the human resource at this institution.
At MBC, the journalism practice, though considered a professional and formal kind of employment, has not defied the odds of being termed ‘survivalist employment’ considering the lack of job security, the emotional stress that political demands press on employees, the manner in which workers are hired, moved around and/or fired and the unnecessary demand for praise-singing by the powers that be.
We, at JUMA, ask the president to leave the hiring and firing and even the moving of staff to and from different positions, to the institutions’ human resource department. This, we believe, would create a favorable work environment for all employees and would reduce job dissatisfaction and also minimize the undercurrents of employee relationship conflicts that erode the much required team work spirit.
Your Excellency, Sir, a supportive work environment is the one in which proper attention is paid to achieving a satisfactory work–life balance, in-excessive emotional demands, and where attention is also paid to providing healthy and safe working conditions with job security being a major consideration.
JUMA believes an inspirational work environment is where an institution such as MBC has a clear vision (which is not blurred by politics) and a set of integrated values that are embedded, collective, measured and managed by the institutions’ own workforce