Drab på to journalister og generelle restriktioner mod pressen får Tanzania til at falde drastisk på en global liste, der vurderer graden af pressefrihed – i et land, som har fået flere danske bistandskroner end noget andet.
DAR ES SALAAM, 30 January 2013: Press freedom has shrunk considerably in Tanzania, with journalists and media houses finding it more difficult to do their work, according to the 2013 World Press Freedom Index, Tanzanian daily “The Citizen” writes Wednesday.
The country has dropped 36 places and is now ranked at number 70 of the 179 countries surveyed. It was in position 34 last year.
“Tanzania sank more than 30 places because, in the space of four months, a journalist was killed while covering a demonstration and another was murdered,” says the document, which was compiled by Reporters without Borders.
The report, subtitled “Dashed Hopes after Spring”, was referring to the killing of Daudi Mwangosi, a Channel Ten TV reporter who died in the hands of police last September while covering a political event that turned violent in Iringa region.
Earlier this year, a reporter with a local radio, Mr Issa Ngumba, was found dead in a forest in Kigoma region.
A policeman has been charged with firing a gas canister that ripped apart Mwangosi’s body, killing him instantly.
Ikke den eneste dystre rapport
The 2013 World Press Freedom Index findings echoes the Africa Peer Review Mechanism report on Tanzania that was released at the weekend in Addis Ababa. It also found that press freedom has been curtailed (begrænset) in the country.
The APRM report, which was tabled for review in the presence of President Jakaya Kikwete, cited the banning of Mwanahalisi newspaper as evidence that the government was intolerant of opposing views in the press.
President Kikwete said, that “if the press sows dissent (uenighed), encourages violence and preaches divisions among the people, we will not hesitate to act in the interests of the country.”
The President pointed to the large number of media outlets as proof that there is media freedom in the country.
He added: “Till June 2012, Tanzania had registered 763 newspapers and publications. This is the largest number in Africa. We also have 85 radio stations and 26 TV stations. Ninety per cent of these are owned by private individuals and non-governmental organisations.”
“Svarer blot til virkeligheden”
But media stakeholders argue that the findings reflect the reality on the ground. According to veteran journalist Generali Ulimwengu, who is the chairman of the board of Raia Mwema newspaper, the report paints the true picture.
He added: “Having a big number of television stations, newspapers, and radio stations, as Mr Kikwete alluded to (henviste til) in Addis Ababa, does not constitute freedom of expression. What is needed is the right to access and disseminate information without government restrictions—subject only to the laws of libel (bagvaskelse), obscenity and sedition (opvigleri).”
The recent attacks on journalists, he said, have signalled to the international community that Tanzania does not have freedom of the press expressed either in the culture or the legislative framework.
The government is also a major supplier of advertisements and has been accused of using this power to deny business to media houses that are perceived to be critical.
The national director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, Tanzania (MISA-Tan), Tumaini Mwailenga, said there is no longer freedom of the press in Tanzania due to hostility between the police and journalists.
“As MISA-Tan, we plan to involve all media stakeholders and citizens to reject the draft review of constitution as the process is carried out in secrecy,” he noted.
