Tanzanian President signs Media Services Bill into law

Tanzanian President John Magufuli has signed into law the controversial Media Services Bill 2016, which was passed by the National Assembly early this month.

President Magufuli signed the Bill amid an outcry from the media stakeholders who were against it, saying their views were not included in the important document.

According to a statement from the State House directorate of Communication on Thursday, President Magufuli signed the bill into law on Wednesday.

The statement said President Magufuli commended all stakeholders who contributed to the endorsement of the Act.

"I believe that this Act will help improve the media sector for the sake of the professionals and the country at large," the statement quoted President Magufuli as saying.

On November 5, the National Assembly endorsed the bill which aimed to transform journalism from an occupational to a professional industry.

The Act, which parades provisions for professionalism in the media industry, also creates frameworks for regulation of media services and other related matters. The Act will mainly be applied in Tanzania Mainland.

Section 8 of the law forbids an individual to publish, sell, offer for sale, import, produce or distribute print media in any manner unless such a person is licensed. On accreditation of a journalist, the law prescribes that a person shall not practice as a journalist unless that person is accredited.

A person found practicing as a journalist while not accredited will upon conviction be liable to a fine of between 5 million and 20 million Tanzanian shillings (around 9,200 U.S. dollars) or imprisonment to between three and five years or both.

However, through the whole endorsement process, media stakeholders were decrying on some of the articles in the law.

Immediately after the endorsement, the Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Nape Nnauye, called upon stakeholders to bury their differences which arose during the process of preparing the Bill and focus on formation of regulations that will enable it to serve the industry as required.

He said journalists are now set to enjoy the freedom of their operations once it becomes an Act that will guide the industry and bring to an end the Newspaper Act of 1976. He said the Bill has clearly outlined the roles of journalists, media owners and printers with professional bodies to be formed to ensure they operate as they should.

"At times, I found it illogical when some people said they found no difference between this Bill and the Newspaper Act of 1976. This is not true unless we are playing politics," said the minister.

He said the new Bill has taken away some of the powers of the minister. They are now vested in the Independent Media Council and the Board of Accreditation. The minister will only remain with authority in matters of national security and public safety. Endit