Ministry issues conflicting statements over newspaper ban
From left: Mr Maulid Hassan and Mr Erick Kanyange admire a copy of Mwananchi newspaper at Ubungo Traffic lights yesterday. The paper was banned by the government for 14 days, from September 27. PHOTO | SALHIM SHAO
What you need to know:
On Thursday, a statement issued by the Tanzania Information Services (Maelezo) and attributed to the minister accused ‘Mwananchi’ of adamantly publishing the paper online and ‘Mtanzania’ of turning Rai into a daily newspaper, against the government notice.
Dar es Salaam. The suspension of two daily newspapers by the government two weeks ago has taken a new turn after two conflicting statements were issued by the Ministry of Information, Youth, Sports and Culture on the matter.
On Thursday, a statement issued by the Tanzania Information Services (Maelezo) and attributed to the minister accused ‘Mwananchi’ of adamantly publishing the paper online and ‘Mtanzania’ of turning Rai into a daily newspaper, against the government notice.
But a statement issued yesterday by the deputy minister for Information, Youth, Sports and Culture, Mr Amos Makalla, stated that it was he who had permitted Mwananchi Communications Limited, publisher of ‘Mwananchi’ and New Habari Corporation (2006) which publishes ‘Mtanzania’, to run the online edition and publish ‘Rai’ newspaper on the daily basis respectively.
The first paragraph of Makalla’s statement reads (an unofficial translation): “I would like to inform the public that I am the one who permitted Mwananchi newspaper to publish its online edition and Rai newspaper to come out daily.”
In his statement, Makalla reveals that on October 4, 2013, he met with the management of the two media houses as well as with the deputy registrar of newspapers, and concluded that the companies had not broken any law by running the online edition and publishing ‘Rai’ newspaper on the daily basis respectively.
Since the controversial 1976 Newspaper Act was enacted before the onset of online technology, and said nothing to that effect but print, Makalla said in his statement: “About Mwananchi publishing online, the deputy registrar said there was no law barring the paper from doing so provided they did not run the entire publication and that they changed their title piece.”
On Wednesday media practitioners declared a blackout on Information, Youth, Sports and Culture minister and director of Tanzania Information Services.
‘Mwananchi’, which was slapped with a 14-day suspension started coming out yesterday, while ‘Mtanzania’ continues to serve it 90-day long ban.
