SECTOR 3 Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.0 (2010 = 2.4; 2008 = 1.7; 2006 = 2.8) 3.4 The state/public broadcaster is accountable to the public through a board representative of society at large and selected in an independent, open and transparent manner. Section 89 of the Communications Act stipulates that the MBC must be headed by a six-member board, on which the Secretary of Information serves as an exofficio member. The President appoints the chairperson of the board, while the Public Appointments Commission, is said to assist with the selection of the other board members. There is no public consultation or nominations in this regard and the process is not transparent. “This process is very vulnerable to political manipulation, and the board in the past tended to be skewed in favour of the ruling party.” The director-general of the MBC is supposed to be appointed by the board, although the two most recent DGs were appointed by the president. It is unclear which president appointed the current DG as the appointment was made shortly after wa Mutharika’s death in April 2012. The board in place by August 2012 had been appointed two years previously. There are no members of civil society on the current board, apart from a clergyman. A traditional chief and a businesswoman also sit on this board, but the panellists felt that it was not broadly representative of society. There is no legal provision for the independence from the State of the board. “In terms of issues of finances and programming, the board appears independent in the boardroom but beyond this, outside, their powers are limited. The board does not have the teeth to guide the MBC ship as the DG answers to the president and not the board, and therefore won’t necessarily take up the board’s decisions.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MALAWI 2012 41