Tanzania journalists, editors and media associations yesterday (October 14, 2008) condemned the ban of the weekly privately owned Mwanahalisi newspaper and resolved from today (October 15, 2008) to boycott to publish all news concerning the Minister of Information, Sports and Culture, Captain George Mkuchika.

The government through the Ministry of Information, Sports and Culture banned publication of Mwanahalisi newspaper for three months effectively from Monday, October 13, 2008 allegedly for running false stories about President Jakaya Kikwete's family and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi.

During the press conference held in Dar es Salaam yesterday, The Tanzania Editors Forum resolved to blackout the Minister from privately owned print and electronic media.

The Forum's Chairperson, Sakina Datoo told the conference that "all the local newspapers, television and radio stations will no longer cover Mkuchika by any means".

The meeting which was also attended by MISA-Tanzania Chapter and Tanzania Media Women Association, Editors and Journalists from various media outlets deliberated to go to court to challenge the government ban on Mwanahalisi, plan to stage a demonstration to the Ministry of Information, Sports and Culture head offices in Dar es Salaam to submit their concerns and write a letter to President Jakaya Kikwete conveying the disappointment of media professionals in relation to the incident.

Another measure is to officially inform the international community about the concerns of the stakeholders.

In his response, Mkuchika told the state-owned Daily News today's newspaper that the decision to ban the newspaper was intact and that the measure was taken by the government.

"The decision to cover my stories or not is their own. But I'm not going (to) lose anything because the government that I serve and my party have media houses which can adequately, properly and correctly inform Tanzanians," the state-owned Daily News quoted Mkuchika.

"The government is operating in accordance with the law of the land. The government does not operate on wishes of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations)," he said.

Rashweat Mukundu
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring
MISA Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht Street
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: + 264 61 232 975
Fax:+264 61 248016
Mobile: 00 264 813 675 362
E mail rashweat@misa.org, misaalerts@gmail.com