In Ethiopia, Members of the House of People’s Representatives have voiced their opposition against a proposed TV license fee outlined in a new draft bill to re-establish the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).
In their 6th regular meeting of the second year of their term in office, lawmakers stated that Articles 17-20 of the proposed draft bill allows the state broadcaster EBC to collect license fees from the public and penalise those who refused to pay.
According to the proposed bill, which was later approved into law despite opposition from MPs, citizens will have to pay US$3.73 per year for one television set in their homes, increasing from what was previously US$1.12.
The bill also states that citizens who do not pay the annual license fee will be imprisoned for one to five years or fined between US$18.64 to US$93.20.
It has been stipulated that businesses must comply with the law to ensure their business license is renewed based on an agreement EBC will make with the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration.
According to the parliamentarians, the state broadcaster must provide new programs and up-to-date information that the public would choose to follow before asking for a license fee.
MP Asemahgn Asres said that the state broadcaster has not been doing any significant journalistic work over the past seven decades since its establishment rather than “serving as a mouthpiece for different regimes”.
Asres said, “EBC is not operating free of political influence and gives no equal access to all political parties. Neither does it work to be a competitive media with other media.”
Negash Bulala said, “the institution is not offering appropriate media services to the public, which makes it incompetent.”
Despite objections from the member of the parliament, the bill has been approved into law, with 44 votes against and 24 abstentions out of 240 members present.
