Let us work together, CJ says

Dar es Salaam. Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman, yesterday urged for cooperation between the Judiciary and the media because the two sides work for the interest of the public.

Speaking yesterday at the Judiciary-Media Forum, Judge Chande recommended harmonisation of the working environment between the two pillars to improve efficiency and accountability.

“Our society needs to see democracy and good governance in practice, which is among the core functions of our bodies. We must find ways through which the parties can feel free in approaching each other.

“We at the courts want to see reporters writing exactly what happened in a particular case, not to misquote anyone. At the same time, our task is to facilitate the media to access information easily. We have to change the way we write our rulings for the press use.

We have been criticized as being secretive, therefore this forum will provide us with various recommendations on how we can improve our relationship,” he said and noted the importance of balancing stories related to acase before publishing it.

Meanwhile, he refrained from commenting on the involvement of two judges named in the Tegeta escrow account saga, saying this needed a forum similar to what MPs had -- where they were discussing the matter under immunity.

For his part, Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) president Judge (rtd) Thomas Mihayo said for a long time the Judiciary and the media have worked in an environment of mistrust thus hindering the smooth cooperation between them. “We are where the public runs to when there is a problem. This is why the courts need the media -- reaching out to the public.

“We believe that these discussions today will open a new chapter, we will openly discuss our core issues and reach consensus,” said Judge Mihayo.

In his paper on ‘Judicial and Media: Working Together, Safeguarding Independence and Professionalism in Service of the People’, MCT boss Kajubi Mukajanga, insisted on the independence of the Judiciary and media, saying that once that quality is lost, it is the public that will lose out.

“Once a nation’s media and judiciary get compromised, the public is left at the whims of those with means, and impunity sets in,” he argued.

“As the two bodies of such importance to the public, it is high time to discuss issues of concern and look for the way forward,” he said.