Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

(MISA/IFEX) – On 11 June 1998, the chief executives of the “Kasheshe”, “Chombeza” and “Arusha leo” publications requested that the government of Tanzania consider lifting the bans imposed on their newspapers on 8 June. It was the second such appeal made to their government. The managing director of The Guardian Limited, Vumi Urassa, appeared for […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The government of Tanzania has recommended to Parliament that the import tax exemption on newsprint granted in 1997 be abolished. The move is expected to have a heavy toll on Tanzania’s burgeoning newspaper industry, which in recent years has flourished almost unhindered. Unveiling the Government Budget speech for the 1998/99 financial year in […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The editors of the three Kiswahili-language newspapers that were banned by the Tanzanian government met Minister of Information Kingunge Ngombare Mwiru to plead their case. Deo Masakilija, the editor of “Arusha Leo”, and Saidi Msonda, the editor of “Kasheshe”, both told MISA that the meeting in Dodoma on 9 June was cordial, with […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The state owned Zambia Telecommunications Company (ZAMTEL) and the Zambian Attorney General have been included as respondents, along with the Zambian inspector general of police, in a civil suit initiated by the editor-in-chief of the privately-owned newspaper “The Post”, Fred M’membe. The civil action stems from the alleged illegal tapping of the newspaper’s […]

(MISA/IFEX) – According to information received variously from the National Society of Human Rights (NSHR) in Namibia and the Portuguese service of Channel Africa radio, Simaon Roberto, a journalist for the government-owned “Journal de Angola”, was gunned down in Luanda on 5 June 1998. Roberto was returning from the State House, where he had covered […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 27 May 1998, a Chinese national, Xiang Rong, who pleaded guilty to possession of pornographic materials, was fined K1.6 million (US$840) by a Lusaka Magistrate. Her lawyer, Michael Musonda, told the Zambia Independent Media Association (ZIMA) that the material found in her possession consisted of “soft pornographic” magazines and a video. “This […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 6 June 1998, the Government of Tanzania announced the ban of three Kiswahili weekly tabloids. The newspapers “Kasheshe”, “Chombeza” and “Arusha Leo” were banned with effect from 8 June for what the Government described as the papers’ persistent featuring of pornographic cartoons. In the statement issued on 6 June, Minister of State […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 3 June 1998, police in Dar es Salaam beat and briefly detained “Mtanzania” photojournalist Ally Mwankufi. At the time, Mwankufi was taking pictures of police arresting suspects at Kinondoni Mkwajuni in the Kinondoni district following the murder of an individual. Mwankufi told MISA-Tanzania that four police officers arrested him at 10.40 am […]