A Zimbabwe magistrate in the southern city of Bulawayo, Mark Nzira, on March 15 dismissed an application for discharge at the close of the State case by Ubuntu Times Correspondent Jeffrey Moyo.
The State alleges that Moyo illegally acquired media accreditation cards from the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) for two foreign journalists, Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva, when they arrived in Bulawayo from South Africa on May 5 before they were deported on May 8.
Moyo is said to have facilitated the media cards despite the applications by Goldbaum and Silva having been turned down by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services.
In his ruling, Magistrate Nzira said Moyo must raise a defence as the State has enough evidence against him.
Jeffrey Moyo’s wife, Purity, has offered support to her husband during his prosecution. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo
Moyo was jointly charged with a ZMC employee, Thabang Manhika, who was acquitted last on March 10 by the same magistrate after the State failed to amend the charges and prosecute the two separately.
Kathleen Mpofu, who is representing Moyo, told the media that the magistrate said her client has a case to answer.
“In his findings, it seems the magistrate relied on the fact that the state had led the evidence of the allegedly false accreditation cards that had been obtained by foreign journalists. Based on his interpretation of the evidence led by the state, he found that it was sufficient to put my client to his defence.
“Therefore the ruling of the application for discharge at the close of the state case was dismissed by the magistrate. He found that the state had led enough evidence for Mr. Moyo to be put to defence,” said Mpofu.
The matter was deferred to April 28 for continuation led by prosecutor Avumen Khupe.
A court in Zimbabwe has further delayed passing a ruling in a matter in which Ubuntu Times correspondent Jeffrey Moyo is seeking refusal of remand.
The ruling which was expected to be passed between July 22 and July 25 has been indefinitely postponed and the matter remanded to September 10.
Moyo’s lawyer, Doug Coltart, has said the postponement of his client’s ruling is a typical example of how the courts in Zimbabwe deal with politically sensitized matters.
“We are yet to receive the ruling and the matter has been remanded to September 10. We were anticipating the ruling between July 22 and July 25 but the court has not communicated to us what has prompted the delay,” said Coltart.
Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana recently told this publication that Moyo is neither a victim of political persecution nor free expression but should face the law.
A recent report showed that Zimbabwe has dropped two places on the World Press Freedom Index from number 129 to 131.
Written by George Orwell in 1949, 1984 detailed the imperative of resisting oppression and tyranny, offering great insight into a twisted and very cruel future if nations are allowed to fall to the rule of totalitarianism.
The book helped put in proper perspective, how totalitarian regimes attempt to control our thoughts and lives through surveillance and by seizing control of the mass media, most times, violently. In this brilliantly articulated piece of work, we see a “party” that deploys enormous resources into eliminating dissent to the extent of establishing edicts that criminalize holding anti-government thoughts and opinions. Do these methods sound familiar to you? If so, then I welcome you dear reader to 1984
In an event described as the “Nigerian Drama” by The New York Times in 1984, the regime of Buhari, violating human rights and international laws, staged a kidnap of a former Minister of Transport, Umaru Dikko, after he was ambushed at his London base. This is the same junta that had just overthrown an elected government of Shagari under whom Dikko served as Minister.
Biafra agitator, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Credit: MNK
Fast forward to 2021, close to four decades after, the same serial law offender staged a similar attack on Human Rights and International laws in the abduction of the IPOB leader and British Citizen, Nnamdi Kanu, in Kenya. This is after he returned in 2015 in a disguised democratic toga.
Shortly after the abduction of Kanu, barely 24 hours to a July 3rd protest declared by Yoruba secessionist group, the regime sent in masked DSS operatives after the Yoruba secessionist agitator and leader, Sunday Igboho, stormed his Ibadan residence at the dead of the night like armed assassins, arrested thirteen persons and in a public statement released by its PRO, Peter Afunnaya, boasted to have extra-judicially murdered two of Igboho’s allies.
On the day of the protest, however, the regime deployed combined forces of the police and military. The security forces shot violently and sporadically against the peaceful agitators and protesters, killing Jumoke, a 14-year-old female trader.
It should be recalled that as far back as 2015, there have been renewed calls for the secession of the Igbo people from Nigeria by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. The secession campaigns attained a threshold of popularity upon the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu on the 20th of October, 2015. And as the agitation grew bigger and larger, no thanks to increasing insecurity and socio-economic injustice in the country that has pauperized millions of Nigerians and made the country totally unsafe for habitation. This is also complicated by the manner in which the government protects and funds terrorists and bandits while deploying enormous resources into hunting, arresting, and killing protesters and all who maintain dissent against the regime.
But the secessionists were not the only group or persons to fall victim to the tyranny and brazen human rights violations of the Buhari regime. Recall that on August 3rd, 2019, at about 1 AM, Omoyele Sowore, leading investigative journalist and revolutionary activist was abducted in the middle of the night by masked men of the DSS who stormed his Lagos temporary residence like assassins.
For calling a RevolutionNow Protest against misgovernance and crass incompetence of the regime, Sowore spent five months in unjust detention after the regime violated two court orders for his release. Worst still, the regime in desperation to rearrest Sowore after it reluctantly obeyed the order to release the latter on bail, the DSS stormed the courtroom, violating the sanctity of the court right in front of the presiding judge who had to escape the violent scene instigated by the gun-wielding DSS operatives. The regime created an unfathomable precedent of judicial impunity when it turned Justice Ijeoma’s court into a war zone.
There is also El-Zakzaky whom the regime continues to hold hostage despite court orders that have mandated it to release him on bail. Aside from murdering his children extrajudicially, the regime has murdered scores of his followers for asking the government to comply with court orders granting bail to the Sheik.
The regime for the past six years of administration had equally devoted time to arresting, intimidating, and harassing journalists. According to media reports, no less than eight journalists have been killed on duty under the regime with over 500 falling victims to harassment, intimidation, torture, and unjust detentions. Today, it has become a norm to see journalists who have come to cover protests dressed in bulletproofs as though covering a war zone. No doubt, the regime had turned protest grounds into a theatre of war.
When the regime appeared not to be satisfied with simply attacking and gagging the press, it went straight for the social media, prescribing death by hanging for “hate speech’’; a deliberate attempt to gag Nigerians and violate their constitutional right to free speech. The regime did not want a free press, it frowned against citizen’s right to free speech and protests. It does not want Nigerians to protest offline and also against them expressing their frustrations on social media, especially Twitter. It was this gross hostility to free speech that forced the regime into banning over 200 million Nigerians from using Twitter.
No regime in history, military and civilian, has treated the judiciary and the rule of law with such disdain and brazen impunity. No regime in the history of the country has been so hostile to its citizens without any modicum of regard for their lives or constitutional rights. No regime in history had ever treated the press and the Nigerian people with so much hate and utter contempt.
The only regime that ever measured close to Buhari’s despotism is the military junta of 1984; the only Junta to have ever dethroned an elected government. Buhari’s capacity for lawlessness and impunity is second to none, such that only Buhari could have surpassed the record of his own lawlessness over three decades after.
Buhari may not only be classified as a despot with the unique ability to harness the powers of Nigeria’s systemic impunity to muster a social, political, and economic siege against the Nigerian people, he is the only Nigerian leader fit to be described as a serial law offender, ever to occupy Nigeria’s political space.
A Zimbabwe magistrates’ court in the city of Bulawayo on Monday, May 31 threw out a bail application by Mr. Jeffrey Moyo, a correspondent for Ubuntu Times, citing that he is a “flight risk.”
Allegations against Mr. Moyo by the state are that he contravened the country’s Immigration Act by “fraudulently or misrepresenting in facilitating the entry of foreigners in the country” without due procedure.
Prosecutor Mr. Thompson Hove told the court Mr. Moyo assisted two foreign journalists to illegally enter the country and facilitated their press cards after the duo had been denied such by the Information Ministry.
In her ruling, magistrate Rachel Mukanga said Mr. Moyo is facing serious charges that could see him serve a ten-year prison sentence if convicted.
Mr. Moyo’s lawyer said he is “urgently” appealing the ruling at the High Court though the process might take “a week or even longer” to be heard.
“We certainly felt that Jeff was a very good candidate for bail. We hoped that justice would be done, but we have feelings that this is not unusual especially in the magistrates’ court where good candidates are denied bail in these politicized cases,” said Mr. Douglas Coltart.
Mr. Coltart said he is still waiting for the magistrates’ record though he has made a request.
He added: “As soon as we get necessary copies for us to file the appeal we will do so. By law, it (getting magistrates’ record) is meant to be on an urgent basis because all bail matters are urgent. But sometimes the record can take a week or even longer than that and once we file our appeal it will have to be set down by the high court.”
Ubuntu Times journalist who was arrested Wednesday on allegations of contravening the country’s immigration laws and allegedly facilitating the accreditation of two foreign journalists without due procedure is being kept under inhumane conditions, his lawyer has said.
Mr. Jeffrey Moyo, 37, is alleged to have misrepresented in the facilitation of accreditation for New York Times journalists Christina Goldbaum and João Silva who arrived in the country on May 5 but were later deported. Mr. Moyo appeared in a Bulawayo court for bail application on May 28 but was remanded in custody for ruling set for Monday, May 31.
His lawyer Mr. Douglas Coltart said the State in its submissions raised numerous grounds in their opposition to Moyo’s freedom saying the “issue is a national security threat.”
Mr. Coltart said the grounds of the State’s opposition to his client’s freedom are not based in law but “it appears to demonstrate the politicization of this case and interference of the Information Ministry in the functioning of an independent commission.”
He said Mr. Moyo is “mentally strong.”
“Jeff is doing good but the conditions of his detention are absolutely horrific and inhumane. When he was detained at Bulawayo Central police station, they took away some of his warm clothes and was sleeping on the floor, and yet we are in winter but nevertheless, he is mentally strong,” said Coltart.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) president Mr. Michael Chideme said his union is “following court proceedings and will offer a statement after speaking to Mr. Moyo.” The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe Chapter director Mr. Thabani Moyo said they are “trying to understand the matter.”
Spokesperson of the Young Journalists Association (YOJA) Mr. Leopold Munhende said as young media practitioners operating in Zimbabwe they “are really worried about Jeff Moyo at the present moment.”
“We are viewing this as an attack on the media. It has been happening over the years, it is not new of course. We now hear they took some of his clothes in this winter. The lawyers are being clear he did nothing. They are saying it is not his responsibility to accredit journalists but that of the ZMC.
Mr. Munhende said as young journalists they “fear that one day this could happen to us if the state wants.”
On March 9, 2015, Sheffra said unidentified men outside the barbershop in the vicinity of the couple’s home in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, seized her then 35-year-old husband accusing him of livestock theft before bundling him into one of their unmarked vehicles and sped off.
Since then, Itai’s whereabouts have remained a mystery.
“My message today is we will not forget Itai and we pray that we get answers and we hope the government of Zimbabwe will help us to find him or to find the abductors,” said Sheffra.
A journalist by profession and founder of a pro-democracy movement called Occupy Africa Unity Square that campaigned for the resignation of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Itai had become a thorn in the flesh of the country’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF).
Days before his abduction, Itai had urged thousands of people at a rally organized by the late Movement for Democratic Change party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, to topple Mugabe.
Robbed of her husband, with her two children — a 13-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl, she (Sheffra), said ‘the children know what happened, so we just pray for him to come back to us one day.’
“Life without him is hard. It’s hard to live for six years without knowing where (Itai) he is or what happened to him, especially when l look at our two young kids; it’s hard.”
“My boy and girl can’t wait to see their dad. They talk about him most of the time, saying that when dad comes, we will run to meet and embrace him,” Sheffra told Ubuntu Times.
Itai’s brother, Paddy Dzamara, said ‘my message is directed to those who took Itai and also to Mr. ED Mnangagwa (the President) to provide us with closure of his whereabouts.’
“Itai’s abduction and disappearance has been hard for the family and we all miss him. His children Nokutenda and Nenyasha always ask about his whereabouts and when he will come back to them,” Paddy told Ubuntu Times.
Gladys Hlatshwayo, the opposition MDC Alliance secretary for external affairs, said ‘we remember the courageous Itai Dzamara who was abducted on this day six years ago.’
“He is still unaccounted for to this day. Sadly, his brother Patson Dzamara passed away before he could get answers,” said Hlatshwayo.
Harare — In a move that has been taken with a pinch of salt by local pro-democracy activists, the Zimbabwean regime on November 20 announced that it had dished out broadcasting licenses to six more television stations out of the 14 that had applied to be licensed.
Presently, just the Zimbabwe Television run by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is the only national television station in Zimbabwe.
Amongst the successful applicants for a license, was the State-controlled, Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN).
ZTN is a sister company of the Zimbabwe Newspapers 1980 Private Limited, controlled by this country’s government notorious for stifling media democracy for decades.
Owned by business tycoon James Makamba, Zimbabwe’s only privately owned broadcasting station, Joy TV, which started in July 1998 was shut down on 31 May 2002 after a lease agreement the TV station had with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation was annulled on the grounds that it desecrated the 2001 Broadcasting Services Act of this country.
Two decades later, Zimbabwe’s regime has licensed other players in the television broadcasting industry, however with pro-democracy activists skeptical about the government’s sincerity in its move to license the new players.
“The regime has merely licensed its own TV stations that will further step up praise-singing for it (the regime) as it perpetuates more rights abuses here,” Claris Madhuku who heads the Platform for Youth Development, told Ubuntu Times.
Under Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rule, journalists like Hopewell Chin’ono have been arrested ostensibly for inciting public violence although he had mid this year exposed alleged government corruption involving Coronavirus supplies implicating the President’s son Colin Mnangagwa.
However, announcing the licensing of the six TV stations, Charles Sibanda, chairman of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), hailed the move which he said was the liberation of airwaves in the African nation.
“The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe would like to express appreciation to all those who showed interest and indeed the general public for actively participating in this historic process of facilitating the opening up of broadcasting airwaves for multiplicity in television services,” Sibanda told reporters in the capital Harare.
But other applicants like Heart & Soul Television which is owned by Trevor Ncube one of President Mnangagwa’s advisors, was not amongst the successful applicants although Jester Media trading as 3K TV managed to get a license despite the fact that the company falls under the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) which publishes the Daily News, an anti-government newspaper.
Ncube is the owner of Alpha Media Holdings which publishes newspapers deemed to be hostile to the Zimbabwean regime — Newsday, The Zimbabwe Independent, and The Standard.
Other TV stations that were given licenses are Rusununguko Media’s NRTV, Acacia Media Group’s Kumba TV, Fairtalk Communications’ Ke Yona TV, and Channel Dzimbahwe’s Channel D.
Harare, Zimbabwe — Fiona Nyaungwa (24) still recalls marching towards the State House in Harare on the 18th of November in 2017 to put pressure on the then Zimbabwean ruler, the late Robert Mugabe to resign.
Nyaungwa, then a student at the University of Zimbabwe was supposed to attend lessons but she could not miss the historic event impelled by the military.
“My neighbor convinced me to witness this historical event of our time in the hope that we were being liberated from bondage,” she said.
But she is quick to confess her fear of Zimbabwe’s dreaded military.
“I was afraid the military was going to open fire on innocent civilians,” she told Ubuntu Times.
In the city center, she joined millions of Zimbabweans around the country who were calling for the resignation of Robert Mugabe — the man who had ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist since its independence from Britain in 1980.
Four days before, Nyaungwa had seen armored vehicles taking strategic positions in the city center from Inkomo Barracks about 35 kilometers northwest of Harare.
She did not know what was happening until the morning of the 15th of November 2017. ZTV, the country’s only State television broadcasting station and radio stations had been taken over by the military under the cover of the darkness.
While the drama unfolded, they had placed Mugabe under house arrest and Major General Sibusiso Moyo calmed the nation: “We wish to assure the nation that (President Mugabe) and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed,” he said.
“We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice.”
Mugabe together with his wife Grace and a faction of Zanu-PF G40 members including outspoken former Minister of Higher Education Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Zhuwao – Mugabe’s nephew and Saviour Kasukuwere were immediately labeled criminals – accused of corruption in Zimbabwe. Their persecution started.
The coup led to the ousting of Mugabe and paved the way for the ascendency to power of axed Vice President Emmerson Mnangangwa – the man who for many years was Mugabe’s confidante.
The coup that ousted late President Robert Mugabe led to the ascendency of axed Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to power. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times
Young people like Nyaungwa saw Mnangagwa as a savior who would build a new nation where democracy, rule of law, and respect of human rights thrived. He carried Zimbabwe’s hopes of burying years of living under fear, years of political turmoil, and rebirth of a nation that was once praised for its economic boom. They welcomed the ouster of Mugabe.
“Mugabe’s regime was oppressive. There was no freedom of speech and expression. I needed change. My hopes were to see a democratic Zimbabwe. Under Mugabe there was nepotism and corruption,” Nyaungwa said.
Three years after the military-assisted takeover and a disputed election in 2018 Zimbabweans’ hopes have faded away as it becomes apparent to many that the coup was just a change of power and not a rotten system.
After outlawing the use of multi-currency in mid-2019 and introducing its local currency the Zimbabwean dollar, the latter has been losing value against major currencies.
As of November this year, Zimbabwe’s inflation rate was nearly 385 percent, according to Steve Hanke, an economist at Johns Hopkins University.
The country faces a myriad of problems.
There is a shortage of medicine in public hospitals which has left the majority of Zimbabwe’s population struggling to access health care.
The Mnangagwa-led administration, after dumping its “Open for Business” Public Relations stunt, has adopted the removal of sanctions mantra as the solution to Zimbabwe’s economic crisis.
The government thrives on propaganda and blame-shifting. The Mnangagwa regime has even dedicated the 25th of October annually as a day to campaign against sanctions.
The United States and its allies imposed “targeted” sanctions on Harare in 2002 following a chaotic Land Reform Programme that saw blacks taking back their land from about 4500 white farmers during the Mugabe era.
But, Washington through its embassy in Harare has insisted that Mnangagwa should reform and respect human rights.
Admire Mare, a senior lecturer at Namibia University of Science and Technology said Zimbabwe’s economic malaise is a combination of both external and internal sanctions.
“Internal sanctions are rooted in deep-seated corruption, bad governance, unending electioneering, winner takes it all politics and polarization,” he told Ubuntu Times.
He said the current situation highlights that the regime has learnt nothing and forgotten nothing about the modus operandi of “Mugabeism”.
“The intensity of rule by law and abuse of the criminal justice system is unprecedented. It casts doubt on the sincerity of the regime to reform the political and electoral system,” Mare said.
The government has been using force on citizens since 2018 thereby closing the democratic space.
In August 2018 the military shot dead six civilians in the streets of Harare who were demonstrating against the electoral body which was delaying to announce the country’s first elections after Mugabe.
In January 2019, the military was deployed to quell demonstrators, who were protesting nationwide against Mnangagwa’s decision to hike fuel prices by 150 percent, resulting in the death of 17 people and leaving hundreds injured.
This year, the government using its security forces committed gross human rights under the guise of enforcing measures imposed in March to slow the spread of the global pandemic, Coronavirus.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is using force to silence critics. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times
From March to September 2020 there were over 1,200 human rights violations cases ranging from unlawful arrests, assaults, threats and intimidations, harassment of citizens and journalists, and extrajudicial killings across the country, according to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, a human rights advocacy movement.
Dr. Wellington Gadzikwa, a journalism lecturer and academic at a local university, said the presence of the military in civilian issues which are normally handled by the police has increased and reports of the members of the army violating human rights have increased more than during the Mugabe era.
“I think most people expected Mnangagwa to be radically different from Mugabe but the frustration with lack of change has led many to perceive that the new leader is worse off than the former,” he said.
Njabulo Ncube, the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum coordinator told Ubuntu Times that media reforms have been a fraud in the country.
“While (Mnangagwa regime) purports to be rolling out media reforms, it is sneaking in draconian laws that criminalizes the journalism profession,” he said.
“Mugabe was subtle in stifling media freedoms but Mnangagwa is brazen.”
Nyaungwa is regretting joining the march that forced Mugabe to resign in March 2017.
“The march brought corruption and the suppression of the freedom of expression,” she said.
Dar es Salaam — A Tanzanian court on Tuesday, November 17 sentenced a well-known media entrepreneur to one year suspended sentence after he was found guilty of obstructing police investigations.
Maxence Melo, the co-founder of JamiiForums—a popular whistle-blower website in Tanzania, and the winner of New York Based 2019 CPJ International Press Freedom Award, was charged for obstructing justice by refusing to reveal the identities of anonymous users disclosing suspected Tanzanian corrupt public officials.
Controversial Cybercrime Law
The defendant was charged under a controversial 2015 Cybercrimes Act, which human rights campaigners say was enacted to promote the government’s desire to silence critical voices in one of east Africa’s popular online chat rooms.
President John Magufuli, who has won the second and final term in office, promising to intensify the war against corruption and wasteful spending has come under strong criticism for undermining democracy stifling basic rights to opinion and expression.
One Year Suspended Sentence
Presenting the verdict, Huruma Shaidi a Resident Magistrate at Kisutu court, said the accused is convicted on similar charges of the cases which had been filed earlier. He acquitted him on conditions that the defendant would refrain from committing a similar offense within a year. The Magistrate also set free Melo’s co-accused Mike Mushi after the prosecutors failed to prove the charges against him.
The protracted case against Jamii forums’ founders is part of a series of police allegations that have been dragging since 2016.
In a similar case, Melo was sentenced to pay a fine of Tanzanian shillings 3 million (US$1,300) or to serve a jail sentence for one year. He paid the fine.
No Action Plan
Reacting to the verdict, Mello told reporters that he’s dissatisfied but respects the court’s decision.
“It is too early to know the next move, my lawyers will decide on our action plan for appeal,” he told reporters.
During the case, the prosecutors accused him of ‘intentionally and unlawfully’ concealing the identities of anonymous people who posted false information on the website.
The duo were charged for obstructing investigation contrary to Section 22(2) of the Cybercrimes law. The specific charges was refusing to cooperate with investigators who needed information about an anonymous JF Expert Member calling him/herself Fuhrer, who had alleged on the platform that Oil Com company was embroiled in tax evasion scam by illegally leasing and draining oil at the Dar es Salaam port. The company denied the allegations.
Vague Charges
In dramatic turn of events, the police were interested in knowing users’ information including IP and email addresses. With time the state changed the case and instituted new charges accusing the defendants of corrupting and distorting data in blatant violation of the law.
The accused also faced cybercrimes charges in two other related cases, including one accusing them of operating an unregistered website.
However, critics have criticized the government for failing in its mandate to investigate corruption allegations; instead, targeting whistle-blowers who assisted in exposing corruption.
Under the Cybercrimes law, anybody who publishes “false, deceptive, misleading or inaccurate” information on a website commits an offense and upon conviction can be jailed for three years or made to pay a fine of at least Tanzanian shilling 5 million or both.
A Trained Engineer
Melo, who is a trained civil engineer co-founded JamiiForums—a website that exposes corruption and help push for political accountability almost two decades ago.
Although the website has won global acclaim, it had put him at loggerheads with Tanzania authorities.
In 2008, Melo was arrested on accusation of terrorism. Although the charges were dropped it was not the end. Seven years later the east African country passed the controversial Cybercrime Act of 2015, which, critics say, authorities have been using to censor and limit criticism.
In a bid to comply with harsh online regulations, JamiiForums was shut down for 21 days. The whistle-blower website has since hired a legion of lawyers to review its editorial policy, strategies, and modus operandi so that it complies with government regulations.
Dar es Salaam, October 8 — Tanzania’s ruling party—Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the government have come under strong criticism for allegedly attacking citizens’ rights and processes necessary to ensure a free and fair election.
“Citizens must not sit idly while their rights, hopes, and dreams are eviscerated by a political party determined to stay in power at any cost,” warned the White Paper in its preamble.
Unlawful Disqualifications
The paper also accused the National Electoral Commission (NEC) of unlawfully disqualifying hundreds of opposition political candidates.
The new document was published days after Tanzania electoral body suspended the campaigns of the leading opposition presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu for seven days ostensibly for inciting violence in one of his campaign meetings, in what critics say an attempt to thwart his growing political influence.
“This orchestrated rough justice is yet another proof of a discredited NEC and compromised electoral system,” said Lissu.
Lissu has been subjected to police intimidation. For example, his convoy was blocked two days ago by heavily armed police officers for nine hours—preventing him from attending an internal party meeting in the coast region.
“After nine hours standoff with the police on the Morogoro highway, the police have blinked first. They’ve lifted the illegal blockade our right to meet freely with our members has been vindicated,” Lissu tweeted.
The 52-year-old human rights lawyer, who is running on the ticket of Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) is a fierce critic of the incumbent President John Magufuli—who’s seeking re-election for his second and final term in office.
Lissu, who returned on July 20th after three years in exile in Belgium, survived a brazen assassination attempt in which unknown assailants shot him 16 times.
Police Violence
According to the White Paper, members of the opposition have also been charged for sedition, incitement to violence, or for holding rally the police deem illegal.
As the general election is drawing near, the document states, fears are mounting for Tanzania’s main opposition party about the status of its poll agents and their ability to monitor polling stations as required by law.
The White Paper urged President Magufuli and the country’s electoral body to respect the will of the people by ensuring that CHADEMA’s polling agents are permitted to observe polling stations as required by the law.
It warns NEC to immediately approve opposition parliamentary and councillorship candidates who were disqualified on baseless grounds and have since been waiting for a dragging appeal process.
Fabricated Lies
The document, which CCM’s party ideology publicity Secretary, Humphrey Polepole, dismissed as fabricated lies, suggests the October polls stand little chance of being free and fair.
The document calls on the international community to demand proper monitoring of the polls and to consider tougher measures against individuals it accuses of violating human rights and basic freedoms.
As the country is verging to the polls, opposition leaders say the government is using every trick to sabotage the opposition.
Misleading Impression
Zitto Kabwe the leader of ACT-Wazalendo party said the presidential candidates from little-known parties are stooges put by CCM to create the misleading impression that democracy is growing.
“Suspending the leading opposition candidate’s presidential campaign on bogus charges raises serious questions about the independence of Tanzania’s electoral commission,” he said in a statement.
Dar es Salaam — Tanzania authorities have tightened restrictions on the media, political opposition, and organizations working to promote human rights—ushering in a climate of fear ahead of the October 28 general elections.
International advocacy group, the Human Rights Watch has released a chorus of criticism, accusing Tanzania government of repeatedly intimidating opposition politicians, and banning newspapers deemed critical, denying human rights groups the right to provide civic education and elections monitoring while blackmailing independent journalists from reporting the COVID-19 crisis.
Repressive Laws
Since coming to power in 2015, the government under President John Magufuli, has enacted and enforced tougher laws that campaigners say stifle civil liberties and basic rights to expression and association.
Such laws including the Cyber-crime Act of 2015 which severely restrict online communications, and effectively criminalizing social media content critical of the government.
The government has also toughened the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, ostensibly to punish online users who publish content likely to violate public order, or those organizing demonstrations, or promoting hatred or racism.
Oryem Nyeko, African researcher at Human Rights Watch said Tanzania’s government move to repress civil liberties, raise doubts about the elections being free and fair.
“All of the actions that the government has taken, affect conditions for a fair electoral playing field,” Nyeko said.
For the elections to be free and fair, he added, Tanzania’s authorities should allow political opposition to express their views and rights group and the media to work freely.
The government has also adopted tougher regulations officially banning local TV and Radio stations from airing foreign-produced contents without approval.
Independent Voice Blackmail
Early in July, Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA)—the state-run communications watchdog banned Kwanza TV, an online television station for allegedly airing a biased report on COVID-19.
Campaigners accuse the government of intimidating independent journalists, forcing them to refrain from covering the opposition’s campaign rallies notably the main opposition party Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), whose Presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu miraculously survived a politically-motivated assassination attempt in which he was shot 16 times in 2017.
“Citizens must not sit idly while their hopes, dreams, and rights are eviscerated by a political party determined to stay in power at any cost,” tweeted Robert Amsterdam, an international lawyer representing Lissu.
Electoral Observation
Meanwhile, the Tanzania’s National Electoral Commission (NEC), has banned key advocacy groups including the Tanzania Human Rights Defender Coalition (THRDC) from providing voters’ education ahead of the election.
Onesmo Ole Ngurumwa, THRDC, National Coordinator believes the move is irrational and out of fear, given their solid track record to carry out their duties professionally and objectively.
“More active NGOs have been excluded because of this fear” Ole Ngurumwa told Ubuntu Times.
Ole Ngurumwa, who was briefly arrested last month for failure to submit THRDC agreements with its donors, said the organization has suspended its operations after authorities froze its bank accounts, pending investigation on alleged money laundering.
Three United Nations special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions, freedom of opinion, and torture have been called upon to investigate and expose the true circumstances leading to the death of Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi, whose legal name was Samuel Ajiekah Abwue. Paris-based press freedom advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), made the request on August 11, 2020, the organization said in a statement.
Many rights groups, including Reporters Without Borders, have doubted government’s official account of Wazizi’s death. “The government’s version is riddled with inconsistencies and we doubt that we will learn the truth from the promised investigation. We, therefore, urge the United Nations to do everything in their power to ensure that the circumstances resulting in Samuel Wazizi’s death are established,” Paul Coppin, Head of RSF’s Legal Unit, said. After Wazizi’s death was officially made public on June 5, 2020, President Biya promised to carry out an independent and transparent inquiry into the matter, but till now there has been no outcome.
Wazizi’s family, colleagues, and rights groups suspect the journalist was either severely tortured or mistreated. Back then in June, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Africa Programme Coordinator, Angela Quintal said the Cameroonian government’s treatment of journalist Samuel Wazizi was cruel and shocking. “It is unbelievable that authorities covered up his death in custody for 10 months despite repeated inquiries from press freedom advocates and his family, colleagues, friends, and lawyers,” Quintal said.
RSF wants the UN to put pressure on the government of President Paul Biya to disclose those who perpetrated the death of the journalist and prosecute them accordingly.
Wazizi, a Pidgin newscaster and cameraman working for Chillen Muzik Television (CMTV) in Buea was arrested on August 2, 2019, in connection to the ongoing, drawn-out Anglophone crisis. Five days following his arrest, he was transferred by soldiers from the Muea police station, where he had been temporarily detained, to the 21st Motorized Infantry Brigade in Buea. Wazizi was subsequently transferred to an undisclosed facility and held incommunicado until his death. The journalist was suspected of having links with separatists but was never given the opportunity to appear in court for an impartial, free and fair trial. It is very likely the crackdown on Wazizi must have been related to the journalist’s critical reporting of the ongoing separatist conflict between resolute armed separatists seeking to create a state they would call ‘Ambazonia’ and government troops.
Under President Paul Biya, 87, who has been in power for close to four decades, Cameroon has in recent times seen a sharp decline in press freedom, making it difficult for journalists to hold authorities to account. The media landscape has been increasingly hostile that it is common for journalists critical of the regime to suffer intimidation, arbitrary arrest, and detention, as well as torture. Some, like Mbom Sixtus, have been forced to go on exile. Others have been gagged from speaking truth to power.
Cameroon is rated “Not Free” by Freedom House and the central African nation dropped five places in two years to emerged the 134th country in the world on RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
Dar es Salaam, June 25 — The United States has expressed concern over recent actions by the government of Tanzania to revoke media license of an opposition party newspaper it accuses of publishing false information flouting the country’s laws and violating journalism ethics.
Tanzania Daima—a popular Swahili tabloid known for its razor-sharp scathing reports was effectively banned on 24th June by the government’s director of Information, who doubles as Registrar of Newspapers for allegedly, repeatedly flouting national laws in its reportage.
A statement issued by the Embassy of the United States in Dar es Salaam Thursday said the newspaper ban is part of actions to stifle democratic norms in the East African country, which follows a worrying pattern of intimidation of the opposition members, civil society, and media outlets.
“The right to…freedom of expression are enshrined in the Tanzanian constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The U.S Embassy proudly supports freedom of expression and inclusive political participation in all formats,” the embassy said in a statement.
Since 2015, Tanzania has seen a sharp decline in respect for basic freedoms of expression and association, undermining both media freedom and civil society, campaigners said.
The government has enacted tougher laws that repress independent reporting and restrict the works of the media and non-governmental organizations.
Campaigners are increasingly concerned with the on-going crackdown on freedom of expression in Tanzania, urging the government to uphold those rights which are deeply embedded in the constitution.
Human Rights Watch—a global charity working to defend rights and secure justice worldwide described Tanzania’s newspaper ban as a gesture of intolerance to free expression
Since the enactment of the Media Services Act in 2016, several newspapers in Tanzania, including Mwananchi, The Citizen, Mawio, Mseto, Tanzania Daima, and Nipashe, have been subjected to various punishments including fines, ban and cancellation of publishing licenses.
The government claimed that Tanzania Daima newspaper was repeatedly warned to refrain from publishing inflammatory reports but it ignored the warnings.
Martin Malera, the newspaper editor said they had been questioned by the government when they published a story in which a cleric called upon the opposition to demand a free electoral commission.
In two separate reports issued last year, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said repression of the Media, human rights defenders and opposition politicians in Tanzania intensified in 2015.
Both reports found that the government has adopted harsher laws that stifle independent journalism and severely curbing the activities of non-governmental organizations.
Since then newspapers and radio stations have been banned or suspended for contents deemed critical, Human Rights Watch said.
Authorities have repeatedly used the 2015 Cyber Crime Act to prosecute journalists and activists for social media posts, the charity said.
Meanwhile the Media Council of Tanzania—has expressed shock over the newspaper ban, saying it will further curtail media freedom in the coming general elections.
“This decision puts the country in a bad light and casts doubt on level playing field, especially because…the paper was known to stand for alternative views,” said Kajubi Mukajanga, the Secretary-General of the Media Council of Tanzania.
According to him, the Media Services Act of 2016, is a bad law since it gives the government-appointed registrar the whim to complain, prosecute, and deliver a verdict on its own cases.
“The law provides an aggrieved party whose license has been revoked to re-apply for the license to the same authority that revoked it,” Mukajanga said in a statement.
Mukajanga said revoking the newspaper’s license, would deny the workers income thus affecting their livelihoods.
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