Ministry of Education (MoE) with support from USAID through Global Book Alliance is in the process of developing a National Book and Reading Policy. MoE appointed a National Taskforce to spearhead this development.
MUANA is a member of the Taskforce represented by the Vice President; Mr. Ndongolera C. Mwangupili. This Taskforce is going to work all year round.
The first workshop was at Mount Soche Hotel where among other issues the task force explored how the policy could address authors' concerns, including how to protect the rights of authors in the book industry. There have been a series of such workshops in Lilongwe and by 15th July, 2022, the Taskforce would have finalised regional consultative meetings in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu where various stakeholders including authors are assessing the drafted policy.
We wish the VP all the best in this course and we invite members of MUANA to contribute their informed ideas through the consultative processes.
As a preliminary, government has already given a circular advising all authors and publishers to ensure that their works are protected by COSOMA emphasising that they should have holograms pasted on the covers.