Arusha, Tanzania | JUMUIYA| The 18th Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit has been set for May 20, 2017, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Top on the agenda is the consideration of EU-EAC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and Sustainable Financing Mechanism for the Community. The Summit will also consider …
Read More »Press freedom under pressure
World notes worsening situation in Uganda, cites Stella Nyanzi saga The constant attacks on journalists by security operatives have seen Uganda drop 10 places in the just released 2017 World Press Freedom Index. Uganda stands at 112, down from the 102nd position it occupied last year with a global score …
Read More »Journalists ‘suffocating’ in Magufuli’s Tanzania
In Uganda, Police top list of perpetrators of attacks on journalists for fourth year Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Press freedom in Tanzania is being squeezed under President John Magufuli, leaving journalists fearful. France-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders (known by its French acronym, RSF) ranked Tanzania 83rd out …
Read More »Rwanda, DRC to explore oil in Lake Kivu
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have signed a five-year joint exploration agreement for oil under Lake Kivu. The agreement follows a similar one between Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli and Congolese President Joseph Kabila in 2016. The two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly explore the …
Read More »Magufuli fires 10,000 Tanzanian civil servants over ‘fake qualifications’
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Tanzanian President John Magufuli sacked close to 10,000 civil servants on Friday after a government report found they had faked their qualifications. Some of the government workers are accused of falsifying exam certificates while others are said to have passed relatives’ qualifications off …
Read More »Polythene bags: The menace of East Africa
Why a Rwanda-inspired bill to broaden ban on polythene bags across East Africa might drag on forever Plastic carrier bags could remain in use for the foreseeable future within the East African Community as debate on the East African Community Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016 drags on in the East …
Read More »Magufuli condemns violence after Tanzania gunmen kill 8 policemen
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Gunmen have ambushed and killed eight police officers in eastern Tanzania, the presidency said Friday, the latest in a string of killings targeting politicians and security officers in the country. “President John Pombe Magufuli is surprised and very sorry to learn of the news of the …
Read More »Magufuli crackdown on critics sends shockwaves
Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli started off as a darling of African people when he took office in 2015 with his drastic cuts on public expenditure but his stance on critics is starting to worry his admirers. The latest incident involved a Tanzanian rapper who was arrested for releasing a …
Read More »Magufuli sacks minister after he condemns Tanzanian TV intrusion
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Tanzania’s information minister was fired on Thursday after he criticised an ally of President John Magufuli who had stormed into a television station accompanied by armed men. The sacking comes amid an uproar over the incident at one of Tanzania’s main private broadcasters, …
Read More »Tanzanian TV journalists suspended over fake Trump news
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | A top Tanzanian television presenter has been suspended, along with eight fellow employees of the main state-run channel, for relaying fake news in which US President Donald Trump praised his Tanzanian counterpart. In the fake news item, run this weekend, Trump describes Tanzania’s President …
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