MCT powers on after 30 years of independent conflict resolution
The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) is marking 30 years since its establishment on 30 June 1995. The Council was founded by independent media stakeholders during a conference of journalists and media players as an independent, voluntary and non-judicial body to resolve conflicts arising from news and information published by media outlets, and to uphold media ethics.
Media stakeholders decided to establish this body with the aim of resolving their own disputes without relying on legal bodies such as courts. MCT officially began operations in 1997 after being registered under the Societies Ordinance of 1954.
Besides conflict resolution and training in various media fields, the MCT has heavily invested in efforts to improve media-related laws – a task carried out under the voluntary coalition known as CoRI (Coalition on the Right to Information). Members include the MCT itself, the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), MISA-Tanzania (the Tanzania chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa), TAMWA (the Tanzania Media Women’s Association), TEF (the Tanzania Editors’ Forum), the Legal and Human Rights Centre and other civil society organisations.
The MCT and CoRI have been engaged in the media law reform process since 2006. Their first major action was opposing the 1993 Media Profession Regulation Bill, which was drafted in English and seen as restrictive to press freedom.
A nationwide stakeholder consultation, coordinated by the MCT – the secretariat to the CoRI – was held to collect opinions on access to information and media services law, essentially to debate whether to have one law for all citizens, or two, with one aimed specifically at media professionals.
In 2007 and 2008, MCT and its partners published alternative draft bills based on collected public opinions, one for each proposed law. These alternative bills were drafted by journalist, activist, politician and advocate Dr Sengodo Mvungi, lawyer Mohammed Tibanyendera, Dr Damas Ndumbaro (currently the Minister for Constitution and Legal Affairs) and their teams. The drafts were officially submitted to the government.
To help lawmakers better understand the legislative terrain, CoRI and the MCT organised a study tour to India in 2012 for eight Members of Parliament – Juma Mkamia, Husesin Mzee, Assumpter Mshama, Rebecca Mngodo, Jussa Ismail Ladhu, Ali Mzee, Ramadhani Saleh and Moza Abeid Saidy – as India was a developing nation with progressive media laws at the time.
It took almost 10 years of struggle to see media laws drafted in 2016 when the Media Services Act (MSA) was at last enacted, but only 12 out of 62 stakeholder recommendations were adopted, many of which were minor
Key concerns in the stakeholders’ recommendation – such as ministerial powers to ban media houses without fair hearing – were ignored. Others were: the power of the police force to confiscate media equipment with only what is stated as ‘disclosed security information’; criminalising defamation-related stories, and sedition-related provisions.
Not all media stakeholders were not happy with the provisions seeing this as impacting upon freedom of expression, and the media in general decided to file cases to challenge the MSA provisions. One of the cases filed in the Mwanza High Court registry to challenge the provisions of MSA was around the powers of Minister to ban newspapers.
Another case filed in the East Africa Court of Justice (EACJ) by MCT,LHRC and THRDC saw 16 provisions out of 18 tabled by applicants under the MSA ordered for review by the government.
After much pressure from the stakeholders, in 2023, the government tabled written laws (the Miscellaneous Amendments Act), proposing changes to various laws, including the MSA. The government come out with a proposal for amendments but most of these related to a reduction in prison time
MCT and CoRI submitted around 25 new proposals covering: the minister’s powers to ban newspapers without due process; annual registration of newspapers; criminal defamation and sedition clauses; police powers to seize media equipment, and other harsh, unlimited penalties.
The June 2023 amendments addressed only nine provisions, including: removing the director of information services’ power to control advertisements; decriminalising defamation (turning it into a civil matter); reducing the length of sentences, and limiting judicial powers to seize printing equipment. CORI’s recommendation were ignored again, especially those sensitive to the areas of sedition and the powers of the police force.
Thus, the 30-year journey continues, especially with unresolved issues in the MSA – the core of media professionalism
According to stakeholders, about 12 sections still raise serious concerns over press freedom. Chief among these is Section 7(2)(b)(iv), which forces private media to publish public interest stories under instruction from the government. To media stakeholders, these instructions undermine editorial independence and should be rejected under law.
CoRI through MCT is still pushing for change, urging the National Assembly and the government to address its outstanding issues, especially after the 2025 General Election, in the hopes of achieving better, fairer media laws in Tanzania.
The Guardian
PICTURE: MCT Executive Secretary Ernest Sungura at the 2nd Pan-African Media Councils Summit in Arusha in July
This article was first published here
