Azory Gwanda puzzle: Tanzania government asks the public to volunteer information

Dar es Salaam. The government has called on the public to share information with law enforcement agents that would aid ongoing investigation to establish the whereabouts of missing journalist Azory Gwanda.

Mr Gwanda mysteriously went missing on November 21, 2017 from his workstation in Kibiti District, Coast Region.

Reports from the district say, Mr Gwanda left his farm with unidentified men in a white Toyota Land Cruiser.

The freelance journalist working with Mwananchi Communications Company Limited, publishers of The Citizen, Mwananchi and Mwanaspoti, newspapers told his wife that he was leaving for an emergency trip and would return the following day.

However, Mr Gwanda has not been seen since then and that despite calls from local media outlets as well as local and foreign journalists’ organisations no successful reports have been issued by the government and investigation institutions.

Mr Gwanda’s disappearance resurfaced again yesterday during the African Media Conference (AMC) II taking place in Lusaka, Zambia.

During the event, the Eastern Africa Editors Society (EAES) asked journalists attending the meeting to continue remembering the journalist, listing incidents, killings and abduction against journalists therefore placing the profession at a huge test.

However, reached for comment, the chief government spokesperson, Mr Gerson Msigwa, said an investigation into the incident was underway.

“The government hasn’t gathered significant information about Azory Gwanda’s whereabouts. Security organs are still investigating the matter,” he told The Citizen’s stablemate Mwananchi.

“Anybody with information should aid investigation should share with the police who will grant him with appropriate cooperation,” he added.

Yesterday, EAES chairman Churchill Otieno told journalists attending the AMC II in Lusaka, Zambia that the disappearance of Azory Gwanda was among key issues discussed last year during the AMC I held in Arusha Tanzania.

He said members of last year the fraternity had a huge hope on the investigation progress of the matter following the gracing of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

“We hoped that there would be progress in investigations to what happened to our colleague Azory Gwanda,” he told participants attending the event, being part of the World Press Freedom Day 2023.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as we sit here today, there hasn’t been much progress. I think we must not forget Azory Gwanda,” he added.

Narrating other similar and recent incidents, Mr Otieno said a TV journalist Arshad Sharif who was running for his safety from Pakistan was shot dead by police at a roadblock in Kajiado, outside Nairobi in Kenya in October 2022.

Furthermore, he said not enough progress has been made investigating why and how a colleague (Arshad Sharif) came to meet his death on the Nairobi doorsteps.

According to him, another four deaths of journalists have been reported across Africa in the first five months of 2023.

“Martinez Zogo of Cameroon; a freelance journalist, was abducted, tortured and murdered in January. John William Ntwali, an investigative journalist and you tuber based in Kigali met his death in the wee hours of the morning,” he said.

“To date, we are not clear how that happened. Authorities said he was killed in a car accident. His death has drawn international calls for credible and transparent investigations,” he added.

In another incident, Mr Otieno said in February, another Cameroonian journalist Jean Jacque-Ola Bebe was found dead with bullet wounds to his face.

According to him, the community was still reeling from the Anye Nde Nsoh, yet another Cameroonian journalist who was gunned down on May 7.

“Madam Minister, friends, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, the deaths of these journalists are a reminder of the incredibly difficult conditions under which journalists on the continent operate,” he said.

“As we convene here today, some of our brothers and sisters are behind bars in countries across the region, simply for doing their jobs. And we should also remember them,” he added.

Mr Otieno named journalists who are behind bars todate as Burundian journalist Floriane Irangabiye who is serving a 10-year imprisonment for speaking out against the political elite in her home country.

Others are 16 Eritrea journalists who have been detained for over two decades.

He said there are attempts to silence the press through harassment and assault of journalists who cover protests in Kenya and aggression against members of the press covering elections in Nigeria.

According to him, media bans, internet shutdowns, and restrictive laws were part of the incidents that criminalize journalism in the continent.

“Journalists continue to face incredible risks to bring the stories of conflict to our television sets and newspapers. We acknowledge the brave work of the Sudanese journalists, the journalists covering the situation in Eastern DRC,” Mr Otieno said.