Tanzanian government revokes registration of 473 newspapers

The government of Tanzania said on Wednesday it has revoked registration of 473 newspapers after owners failed to publish them for three consecutive years.

Nape Nnauye, the east African nation's Minister for Information, said "the decision to deregister the 473 newspapers has been made after owners of the newspapers failed to follow rules and regulations governing the registration of the newspapers even after the government gazette announcements."

He said the government first announced its intention to deregister the newspapers on March 22 in 2013 where 550 newspapers were inactive.

"After that alert owners of the newspapers were told to activate their papers by publishing them," he said adding that only 77 newspapers were republished.

Tanzania has a total of 881 registered newspapers and magazines.

"Any person who will violate the government decision by publishing his or her newspaper after the deregistration will face legal action," said Nnauye.

He said the government was giving owners of the deregistered newspapers a chance to re-register their newspapers by following rules and regulations governing the exercise.

Nnauye added that the government was also planning to deregister people who owned radio frequencies but were not using them. Enditem