Tanzania / Africa

  

‘A rush of relief’: Tanzanian investigative newspaper allowed to publish after 5-year ban

In 2017, Simon Mkina was the publisher and chief editor of the muckraking Tanzanian newspaper Mawio when authorities announced that they were suspending the publication for “jeopardizing national security” by reporting on two former presidents’ alleged links to mining misconduct. Mkina was forced to lay himself off, along with 57 other employees, and he became…

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Ahead of elections, Tanzania’s regulator is used as a cudgel against the media

On August 27, the second day of mainland Tanzania’s official campaign period leading up to October 28 elections, authorities ordered privately owned broadcasters Clouds TV and Clouds FM to replace their regular programming with an hours-long apology until midnight and then halt programming altogether for a week.   The over-the-top display of repentance was dictated by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), on the…

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A banner of Tanzanian President John Magufuli hangs on a wall around a tanzanite mine, in April 2018. CPJ and other organizations are calling on the Human Rights Council to address a crackdown on journalists, human rights defenders, and other groups in the country. (AFP/Joseph Lyimo)

Human Rights Council should address Tanzania crackdown

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 37 other non-governmental organizations today sent a letter to member and observer states of the United Nations Human Rights Council, asking them to address the crackdown on human rights in Tanzania at the 41st session of the council.

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This screenshot of South Africa's Daily Maverick shows an op-ed by CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal about her experience in Tanzania.

Angela Quintal recounts CPJ’s ordeal in Tanzania

Johannesburg, November 13, 2018–“We drove down a dirt road and entered the premises of what appeared to be a safe house, through a large gate. Several men in plain clothes stood in the front yard. At least one appeared to be armed with a rifle. Their animosity was palpable… We were ordered out of the…

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Tanzanian police stand guard outside a vote counting center at a school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on October 28, 2015. On August 16, 2018, CPJ joined a call for the UN Human Rights Council to address a crackdown on free expression and other rights in Tanzania. (AP Photo/Khalfan Said)

CPJ joins call for UN Human Rights Council to address crackdown in Tanzania

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 29 other civil society groups yesterday wrote to the member and observer states of the United Nations Human Rights Council urging them to address the deteriorating situation for human rights, including freedom of the press, in Tanzania during the upcoming 39th session of the council in September.

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A banner of Tanzanian President John Magufuli adorns a wall around the country's tanzanite mines. Magufuli's government has imposed a series of restrictions on rights, including freedom of expression. (AFP/Joseph Lyimo)

CPJ joins call for Tanzanian government to respect human rights

CPJ, along with 64 other non-governmental organizations, today wrote to Tanzanian President John Magufuli to express concern about a worrying decline in the respect of human rights, including freedom of expression.

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President John Magufuli, pictured after winning Tanzania's election last year. His party has halted the live coverage of parliament. (Reuters/Emmanuel Herman)

Tanzania cuts live parliamentary coverage, ending vital news source for citizens

On April 19, the live coverage of proceedings in the Tanzanian parliament ended as a government decision to halt the service went into effect. The move, announced by Information Minister Nape Nnauye in January, has led to protests from the opposition party and journalists’ groups, who said they view the decision to stop live broadcasts…

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Tanzania's new president, John Pombe Magufuli, right, and outgoing president, Jakaya Kikwete. Several of the country's journalists say they hope Magufuli will reform repressive press laws. (Reuters/Emmanuel Herman)

Tanzania’s press wait to see if new president will reform troubling media laws

Elections in Tanzania passed smoothly in October, but several local journalists and a media lawyer told me the spectre of anti-press laws is casting a pall over critical reporting in the country and that hopes for legal reform under the newly elected President John Pombe Magufuli remain muted.

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A bid to rid Africa of criminal defamation, sedition laws

The African Union’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression and access to information, Commissioner Pansy Tlakula, has launched an auspicious initiative in East Africa to counter criminal defamation and sedition laws. Since independence, authorities and business interests in the East and Horn region have used criminal laws on sedition, libel, and insult–often relics of former,…

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(Pan African Parliament)

Press freedom: Challenge of changing words into deeds

The Pan African Parliament’s (PAP) launch of a media freedom campaign through a “Dialogue on Media Freedom in Africa” in mid-May marks an important and welcome starting point. For too long, media freedom has been divorced from the debate around development and democratization when it has an integral role to play in promoting transparency, underpinning…

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