Unsolved attacks on Tanzanian journalists who have focused on corruption have led media chiefs to seek a meeting with security chiefs and faster police investigations
By Kizito Makoye
Dar es Salaam (TrustLaw) — Media and human rights activists in Tanzania are up in arms over what they say is a rising tide of violence against journalists critical of corruption, who have been attacked and in some cases killed -- crimes the police have been unable to solve.
Local media groups have accused members of the security and law enforcement agencies of complicity, but a police spokesman has denied this and defended the slow pace of investigations into the attacks.
Senior politicians have been implicated in corruption scandals exposed by the media in recent years, and the government has banned newspapers and radio stations it has found excessively critical of its policies.
In the latest incident, the chairman of the Tanzania Editors Forum, Absalom Kibanda, was seriously injured in an attack by unknown assailants outside his home on March 5. He has consistently written against political corruption.
Two months earlier, a Kakonko District-based radio journalist, Issa Ngumba, was found dead, his body riddled with gunshot wounds. No one has been arrested or charged.
In September 2012, Channel 10 TV journalist Daudi Mwangosi was killed and his body ripped open when a riot police officer fired a teargas canister at close range during an opposition rally.
A group of Tanzanian media organizations have strongly condemned the attacks, expressed disappointment at the slow pace of police investigations, and urged the government to order an independent inquiry.
Media representatives have requested a meeting with the heads of security organizations, including the Inspector General of Police and the Director of Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services.
“The rate of these incidents has been on the increase and as a result we need to meet these top leaders and discuss what went wrong and what we can do to ensure safety for journalists,” said Reginald Mengi, chairman of the Media Owners Association of Tanzania.
The journalists’ killings have pushed Tanzania down in the global press freedom rankings. According to the 2013 World Press Freedom Index, it has fallen 36 places and is now ranked at 70 out of 179 countries surveyed.
Media groups have accused officials in the law enforcement and security agencies of complicity. “The pace at which security organs investigate such attacks is very slow… some members of security forces are seemingly culpable,” officials from the media group said.
But in an interview with TrustLaw on March 27, police spokesman and Dar es Salaam special zone police commander Suleiman Kova dismissed the allegations, saying the mandate of the police and other law enforcement bodies was to protect civilians and their property. Under no circumstances could they collude with criminals, he added.
“We are still investigating all the incidents including violent attacks against journalists. It would not be wise to pre-empt the work of a committee that we have assigned to investigate the matter.”
He confirmed the media groups’ request for a meeting with top security officials but said he did not know when it would take place.
Sceptical media officials cited, as an example of the pressure on their staff, freelance journalist Erick Kabendera, whose parents were questioned about their nationality by immigration officials who accused their son of ‘trading state secrets’ to European powers.
Tanzania is due to hold general elections in 2015 and powerful politicians within the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party are embroiled in a fierce power struggle to succeed the outgoing president.
Some of these politicians have been implicated in corruption scandals, exposed by the media, including one involving the central bank, and another over the $172 million Richmond power generation deal, which forced Edward Lowassa to stand down as premier and two other ministers to resign in 2008.
The government has banned some newspapers and radio stations critical of its policies. The newspaper MwanaHalisi was banned for sedition last year after it reported extensively on state security agents it said were involved in an assassination attempt against Steven Ulimboka, chairman of the Medical Association of Tanzania.
Ulimboka said he was abducted by gunmen in Dar es Salaam last June, driven to the outskirts and beaten, at a time when he was mobilizing doctors across the country to strike for a pay rise.
In 2008 two of the newspaper’s editors, Saed Kubenea and Ndimara Tegambwage, were attacked with acid by unknown assailants while working in the newsroom.
Police said their preliminary investigation into the assault on Kibanda suggested it was planned since his personal effects, including a laptop computer, an Ipad and mobile phones, were not stolen. He was flown to South Africa for medical treatment after suffering broken teeth, eye damage and a hacked finger.
Kibanda and two former colleagues were due to appear in court on March 26 to face sedition charges in connection with an article published in the paper Tanzania Daima in which they are alleged to have incited policemen to disobey ‘irrational’ state orders to act against civilians. The case was adjourned until further notice.
The attacks on journalists have drawn international attention. “The work of journalists is essential to educate the public and to encourage the free flow of ideas in society… attacks against media professionals threaten the very foundation of democracy,” U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Alfonso Lenhardt said in a statement on March 8.
But the threats continue. Evarist Chahali, a columnist with the weekly newspaper Raia Mwema, has told the paper he has been informed by British police of death threats against him.
Chahali, who used to work for the Tanzanian Intelligence and Security Services (TISS), now lives in Scotland and has written articles for Raia Mwema that are highly critical of the way TISS operates.
Kizito Makoye is a journalist based in Dar es Salaam
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