Government prompts rumour, sows fear By Ndimara Tegambwage WHAT do you expect in a country where rumour is encouraged through clump down on channels of information; where fear and alarm are caused by pockets within authority; and where public peace is disturbed by those who were supposed to be its guardians? Take the example of government action of coming down hard on two daily newspapers – Mwananchi and Mtanzania – suspending their publication for 14 days and 90 days respectively. You can only expect and quickly prepare for, the worst. A daily newspaper is a medium of communication you can call a home of tens and possibly hundreds of tireless collectors and managers of information. It is an engine, churning out details on facts, figures and evidence on whatever is happening and whatever collectors lay their hands on. But, most importantly, and this is for all media, it is a conduit of that important information which enables citizens to see themselves and others; to see performance of their leaders; address them and evaluate performance of their government. The closure of media outlets therefore, plunging citizens in a news and information blackout; and consequently denying them their right of access to information, is a blatant and deliberate “fomentation of trouble.” It reminds citizens of “madness of state power” – more so when it is in the hands of those to whom accountability is a taboo and democracy is just another word for use in classrooms or at political rallies. However, a crack down on media outlets has debilitating multiplier effects. While it takes away citizens’ right of access to information – The Right To Know – it deprives them too the right to communicate and rightly put: the right to freedom of expression. It halts business and threatens investment; renders employees jobless; and closes avenues for income for all those who depended on the feed lines wherever the outlets reach. And this is where government actions become counter productive. It is in such situation rumour reigns, false statements are pronounced unhindered (and not necessarily through media outlets); fear and alarm to the public are more felt than ever before and “public peace is disturbed” – this time originating from government action. This is exactly contrary to Section 36 (1) of the Newspapers Act (1976) which says, “Any person who publishes any false statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace shall be guilty of an offence…” What the law prohibits is, in fact, prompted by government itself; and government in the case at issue remains a complainant, the police, the prosecutor and the judge. This remains a fallacy. But it is not hard to find why the government acted the way it did. First, it has acted the same way before and walked away with it. Impunity has always reigned. Second, and obviously, it was trying to distance itself from the blatant portrayal as exhibited by media. Third, the government has little or no respect at all for laws and courts of law. If that was not the case, it would have arraigned newspaper owners in court. Fourth, the government relies on its draconian law – the Newspapers Act (1976). The law had been found, over 20 years ago (Justice Nyalali Commission) to be among over 40 pieces of legislation which were unconstitutional and demanded either total overhaul or erasure from the statute books. To add salt to injury, the government is this October sending to parliament amendments to the same legislation, to tighten the noose on media and individual journalists, by raising fines from TShs. 150,000 to TShs. 5 million in offences falling under the above quoted section. Strictly speaking, all this boils down to one thing: silencing media which means silencing citizens. This automatically kills business; kills citizens’ rights and freedoms; kills the profession of journalism and aids government to operate in darkness and without accountability. It is unacceptable. (The government of Tanzania banned the two dailies on 27 September 2013. This article was done for The Citizen on Sunday, 6th October but was not published and there was no word from the editor. The Citizen is a sister paper of Mwananchi)
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 11:37:32 +0000