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Tanzania: Editors Slam Newspaper Raid
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
22 July 2008
Posted to the web 23 July 2008
Bernard James
Tanzanian journalists under the platform of the Editors' Forum and human rights groups yesterday condemned the recent police raid on the offices of MwanaHalisi weekly newspaper The editors demanded an immediate and unqualified apology from the Government over the raid, vowing to continue publishing classified documents if doing so was in the interest of the public.
The condemnation follows last Friday's police invasion of the MwanaHalisi newsroom at Kinondoni and confiscation of a computer used by the newspaper's managing editor, Mr Saed Kubenea , whose home was also searched.
While the arresting officers are reported to have said they were looking for an employee of the newspaper they named as Peter Msaki, Director of Criminal Investigations Robert Manumba told reporters that Mr Kubenea was suspected of colluding with a National Bank of Commerce (NBC) employee in revealing confidential information on certain private accounts at the bank.
A few months ago Mr Kubenea and consulting editor Ndimara Tigambwage were seriously wounded after a group of armed men invaded their offices. Mr Kubenea was flown to India for treatment after his sight was impaired.
Flanked by leaders of various media associations, NGOs and human rights groups, Editors' Forum chairperson Sakina Datoo called the invasion "an attack on press freedom." Any government which adheres to the principles of good governance ought to shun and condemn such actions, she said.
"This is to threaten us so that we abandon investigating and publishing crucial information which the public at this moment requires. We shall fight at any cost to protect our freedom. We believe that succumbing to fear and fail to unearth evils in our society is to take our country backwards," she maintained.
"We shall continue publishing any news for the interest of the public because this is our job as the fourth pillar of the state," the chairperson intoned.
Linking the invasion to a few individuals benefiting from grand corruption whom Mwanahalisi has been in the forefront to expose, Datoo wondered why the government hasn't stormed into houses of individuals suspected to have stolen Sh133billion from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) External Payment Arrears (EPA) account."Why haven't they invaded the houses of EPA suspects they are currently investigating and conduct a search," she demanded.
"We (journalists) 'stole' the dubious Richmond power generation contract and published it. We then 'stole' contracts on the controversial BoT twin towers construction and published them. We "stole" documents on the Kiwira, Meremeta and EPA.
"I ask you where we would have been today if we wouldn't be stealing confidential documents from the government," she inquired. "We steal them because the interests of our nation are in our hearts. Our job is to unearth the hidden and not to benefit a few individuals," she said.
Ms Pili Mtambalike, the deputy executive secretary of the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) said the organ now fears that the police act undermines efforts by journalists to expose individuals who have been ripping off billions of taxpayers' money. "We condemn this move to silence journalists by using state organs. We shall make sure that editorial freedom is defended at all costs," the council executive emphasised.
Tanzania Journalists Association (Taja) chairman Hamza Kondo said the attack was an indication that there is massive graft within the government. He called for an unconditional apology from the Government. The director of the Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP), Usu Mallya, joined other organizations to condemn the act.
She called the move as meant to suppress the voice of patriotic journalists. The incident, she said, should serve as a challenge for journalists to write more analytical stories about the fate of our nation without centering too much on attacks levelled at specific personalities.
Mr Ayoub Rioba, the chairman of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa), called the invasion an "abuse of state organs."Mr Bernard Mapalala, the deputy managing editor for The Guardian, said police invasion of Mwanahalisi offices indicates that a huge amount of money stolen from pubic coffers is being used to interfere with the work of state organs, to divide journalists among themselves and legislators.
"Leaders of the (police) force should not allow themselves to be used by criminals," he said.Mr Manumba told reporters over the weekend that Mr Kubenea was suspected of colluding with the bank official to publish information on some bank clients.
But Mr Kubenea yesterday demanded that the DCI tell the public whose accounts secrets he was looking for and who authorized him to do so. "This is purely a bank issue and not the DCI's matter," he said.Meanwhile, an organization dedicated to the fight for press freedom, Reporters Without Borders, joined Tanzanian activists to condemn the raid.
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"This police intrusion into the offices of an independent newspaper is disturbing and surprising in a country where the press normally enjoys real freedom," the international activist NGO remarked. "To respect media freedom and independence, the Tanzanian police and judicial authorities must guarantee the freedom of information and confidentiality of journalists' sources," it added.
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