• On Monday, April 20, Tanzanian authorities suspended Talib Ussi Hamad, a journalist with the Tanzania Daima daily newspaper, for six months for reporting on Covid-19.
• Kenya’s leading Citizen TV was forced to apologise to Magufuli for a week, after running a story headlined “Ukaidi Wa Magufuli” (Magufuli’s Defiance), questioning his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Victor Ndula for Amnesty International
Amnesty International has condemned as the suspension of a Tanzanian journalist for reporting on the coronavirus epidemic.
On Monday, April 20, Tanzanian authorities suspended Talib Ussi Hamad, a journalist with Daima daily newspaper, for six months for reporting on Covid-19.
This, Amnesty International notes, is the latest in a string of attacks on the right to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom during the pandemic by President Pombe Magufuli’s administration.
“Talib Hamad’s suspension comes just days after the Mwananchi daily newspaper had its online license suspended after it posted a photo of President John Pombe Magufuli out shopping surrounded by a crowd of people, eliciting online discussion on the country’s approach to addressing Covid-19,” Amnesty International said in a statement on Tuesday.
President Magufuli has defied science and instead insisted on religious groupings to pray against Covid-19 pandemic.
This is even as the World Health Organization advises against social gatherings, consequently posing a great risk to the East African Community region.
Already, a Tanzanian truck driver aged 34 tested positive in Uganda after he got in through the Mutukula border. He had driven from Dar es Salaam.
“Access to information is an essential part of the fight against Covid-19, yet the Tanzanian government is choosing to censor journalists and media outlets who report on the disease,” Amnesty said in the statement.
Hamad was suspended for allegedly reporting about a Covid-19 patient without the patient’s consent, citing a restrictive and repressive Media Services Act.
HOW MAGUFULI POSES RISK TO EAC STATES
Mwananchi newspaper was suspended and fined TSh5 million (about $2,200) for publishing the photo of President Magufuli buying fish in his home village of Chato, in northwestern Tanzania, on April 13, apparently breaching global social distancing guidelines.
His government claimed the photo was file.
Star Media Tanzania Ltd, Multichoice Tanzania Ltd and Azam Digital Broadcast Ltd were on April 2 each fined the same amount and ordered to apologize for “transmission of false and misleading information” on the country’s approach to managing Covid-19.
Magufuli’s repression does not end in Tanzania. Kenya’s leading Citizen TV was forced to apoligise to him for a week, after running a story headlined “Ukaidi Wa Magufuli” (Magufuli’s Defiance), questioning his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The authorities must immediately lift the suspension of the journalist and the media house. They must not be penalised or sanctioned for doing their job,” Muchena added.
Amnesty further noted that the media plays a crucial role in informing the public about the factual situation and measures taken by governments in response to Covid-19.
“Its capacity to operate freely should not be unduly restricted”.
Some of the Tanzanian laws that have been used in recent years to stifle the right to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom and silence critical voices are the Media Services Act, the Electronic and Postal Communications (Digital and Other Broadcasting Networks and Services) Regulations, Electronic and Postal Communications (Radio and Television Content) Regulations, and Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations.
