An assessment of the Media High Council as a media regulatory body in Rwanda, 2007-2010

Abstract

The Media High Council (MHC) was put in place by the 2003 constitution of the Republic of Rwanda as amended to today. As article 34 clarifies, the MHC is an independent institution which aims to address issues of media and press freedom. In the same spirit, the law number 30 /2009 of 16/9/2009 determines its mission, organisation and functioning. According to article 2 of this law, the Media High Council is responsible for protection, control and promotion of media and media professionals. Based on normative theories, qualitative methods and thematic analysis, this study has explored the policy formation of the Media High Council and how it has been balancing the seeming contradictory responsibilities of protecting and controlling media from 2007 to 2010.