MACRA boss Suleman (in golf shirt) during the handover ceremony
The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) has come under heavy criticism for purchasing production equipment which some experts say are old fashioned and not worth K400 million.
This comes as on Thursday, December 29, MACRA donated digital content production equipment worth 400 million kwacha to Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) which included; drones, cameras, computers, content servers, studio sound proof and all studio accessories.
According to MACRA Director General, Daud Suleman who was speaking at a donation ceremony in Blantyre, the equipment will go towards improving content production which he said is the future of the digital economy, saying in many other countries, content producers are making a lot of money.
However, the development has irked some experts in the country’s filming industry who says the equipment is outdated and that does not match with the K400 million which is said to have been spent.
In his reaction through a Facebook post, president of the Film Association of Malawi (FAMA) Gift ’Sukez’ Sukali said it is very unfortunate that instead of buying state of the art equipment, MACRA opted to buy the ‘old fashioned’ cameras which he said one cannot even change lenses.
He mentioned that with the K400 million which has been used to buy the equipment, MACRA could have bought almost 40 state of the art cameras which are recognised by international content acquisition companies and added that the authority would have engaged some experts in the industry who are fully conversant in such equipment.
“Big up on MACRA and MUBAS on this development, But…… as a world is advancing technologically, investing in old xul cameras like these ones just shows how we are not prepared for the future, these cameras are not future proof, in 2022/2023 we can’t be using camcorders which we can not even change lenses.
“Involving young generation and experienced people to help identify latest cameras and equipment would have been better, we have the likes of Essim who is one of greatest DOP, Shemu Joyah who is one of the best directors, Peter Mazunda with extensive experience in cameras l, Khama Mbaula just to mention a few, with the amount mentioned you could buy not less than 40 Komodo RED Cameras, Black Magic, Sony FX6 , ARRI or advance 2022/2023 cameras which are cameras accepted by international content acquisition companies like Netflix,” said Sukali.
The award-winning filmmaker further indicated that he is very much interested to see the content which will be created using the equipment.
KBG of Nyalimuzik concurred with Sukali saying the money would have been spent on equipment which would have changed the whole film industry and said students who will be learning using this equipment may struggle to use fashionable state of the art cameras after school.
“Nde umalize university munthu utaphunzira zapadzana nde ku interview azakupatse chimenechi. Nde ndi gwiru gwirutu mpaka thukuta kuphazi (students who will learn using the old equipment will struggle to use advanced cameras once they graduate).
“We need to think future proof not past. Let’s update the curriculum to match how the world is moving in terms of how advanced technology is getting right now,” reacted KBG of Nyalimuzik.
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