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SOUTHERN AFRICA PRESS FREEDOM REPORT 2019-2020

for three days. Muchehiwa was only released after
MISA Zimbabwe filed a habeas corpus appeal,
with a judge ordering that the state present him
to court within 48 hours.
The media in Zimbabwe also suffered financial
setbacks, which led the chairperson of MISA
Zimbabwe Golden Maunganidze, to write to the
Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting
Services, requesting the government to come
up with a media sustainability bailout package,
proposing tax exemptions and moratoriums on
newsprint and other mass media production and
distribution equipment.
Tanzania’s restrictions on media and freedom
of expression during the pandemic have been
dire, expounded by the denial of Covid-19 by
the late former President Pombe Magufli, whose
government unnecessarily controlled the release
of any Covid-19 related information. In April
2020, The Tanzania Communications Regulatory
Authority issued a notice banning the Mwananchi
newspaper for six months under the old Online
Content Regulations of 2018, for allegedly
publishing false and misleading information on
Covid-19, further fining it US$2 175. A search
for the newspaper’s website displays that “we
are unavailable”. The Regulatory Authority also
suspended Kwanza Online TV on July 9, 2020,
for 11 months, for publishing on its Instagram
page a US embassy report depicting Tanzania’s
Covid-19 situation.
In April 2020, Ibrahim Bukuku, a first-year
student at the University of Dodoma and resident
of Nyasa district in Ruvuma region was arrested
and charged for allegedly disseminating false
and misleading information through a WhatsApp
group about an alleged cure for Covid-19.
Similarly, Albert Msando, a prominent lawyer in
the Arusha region, was arrested on 28 April 2020
for his remarks about the worsening coronavirus
situation in Arusha. Msando was interrogated by
the police and later charged for misinformation.
His arrest came only hours after Arusha Regional
Commissioner Mrisho Gambo had directed the
police force to arrest any citizen disseminating
conflicting public information on Covid-19.
In May 2020, two journalists, Kaleria Shadrack
and Clinton Isimbu of Kenyan based Elimu TV
were arraigned by the police in Arusha for illegal
entry and working without proper permits. The
two journalists were arrested while interviewing
local residents on the status of the Covid-19
pandemic in the country. They were temporarily
detained at the Longido police station and later
charged in court. They pleaded guilty and were
ordered to pay a fine or serve a three-year jail
term.

ASSESSMENT
Under Principle 22 of the Declaration of
Principles on Freedom of Expression and
Access to Information in Africa, States are
urged to review all criminal restrictions of
content to ensure that they are justifiable
and compatible with international human
rights law and standards and to repeal
laws that criminalise sedition, insult and
publication of false news.
However,
Botswana,
Mozambique,
Namibia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania imposed
criminal sanctions for reporting the
pandemic, and in some cases incarcerated
journalists for publishing false news, falling
short on Principle 22. The Declaration
emphasises in Principle 19 the right to
express oneself through the media by
practising journalism, which shall not be
subject to undue legal restrictions.
Due to the economic hardships caused by
the pandemic, States are called upon, under
Principle 24 of the Declaration, in such
circumstances, to promote a conducive
economic environment in which all media
can flourish, including through the adoption
of policies for the provision of financial or
other public support for the sustainability
of all media through a fair, neutral,
independent and transparent process, and
based on objective criteria.

MEDIA AND GENDER
In Malawi, sexual harassment in the newsroom
is a growing concern, with reports of women
being forced into relationships or risk losing their
jobs. MISA Malawi together with the Association
of Women in Media and Women Lawyers
Association have teamed up to support and
empower female journalists to fight sexual abuse
and harassment in the workplace. The initiative
involves commencing both criminal and civil
proceedings against the perpetrators as one way
of ensuring a conducive working environment for
women.
In Namibia, despite its conducive environment
for the practice of journalism as earlier
highlighted, women are under-represented in
senior management of media houses where
male journalists dominate leadership roles.
It is also reported that female journalists are
significantly underpaid compared to their male
colleagues, compounded by anecdotal evidence
of entrenched misogyny leading to a toxic culture

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