By Suleman Chitera

Broadcasting houses and media companies will be required to pay the debts they previously owed if they wish to resume operations after having shut down earlier.

This was disclosed by one of the senior officials at the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), Limbani Nsapato.

MACRA has given 21 days to companies that are interested in resuming their operations to formally write to the authority.

Nsapato further told Weekend Nation newspaper that MACRA will not issue new licences to these companies.

He said the companies will be required to continue operating under their previous licences until the time those licences expire.

“Companies that had outstanding debts will have to settle those payments. In addition, they will be required to demonstrate their future operational capacity through bank letters,” said Nsapato.

MACRA has emphasized that expressing interest does not automatically guarantee approval, noting that several factors will be considered during the assessment process.

Rainbow Television, Galaxy FM, Ufulu FM, Sapitwa FM, Maziko FM, and Joy FM are among the media houses that were shut down.

MACRA stated that most of these companies failed to pay their annual fees, while some human rights groups alleged that political motives were involved in silencing journalists.

Meanwhile, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi has said MACRA should also conduct a thorough investigation to establish the real reasons why these companies failed to pay the required fees.