TANZANIA – Concerns for freedom of speech have been raised in Tanzania after the government in the country has banned yet another newspaper.
The newspaper ‘Tanzania Daima’ became the country’s fifth newspaper to be banned by the government this year alone.
Tanzania Daima, which reports in Swahili, is one of the most vocal newspapers that is very critical to the government operations.
The newspaper is not slow to comment on all the injustices that the Tanzanian government does on a daily basis.
Government spokesperson Dr Hassan Abbasi says the government had no choice but to ban the Swahili tabloid for three months for allegedly publishing false information about the government.
Abbasi posted on his twitter account saying, “The government has banned Tanzania Daima from publication for continuously publishing false information.”
It is alleged the tabloid has nothing positive to report about but only to taint the image of the government that was elected into power by the majority votes.
The recent article that led to the government to ban the tabloid was published on Sunday about anti-retroviral drugs and claimed that 67 percent of Tanzanians are using them.
Acting editor Martin Malera confirmed that the newspaper has been banned from operating for 90 days with immediate effect.
“We have received a letter at 3:36pm today informing us of the decision,” he said.
Leave a Reply