• ALERT Date: January 7, 2008 Persons: Saed Kubenea and Ndimara Tegambwage Violation/issue: Beaten, assaulted/ threatened On January 5, two editors of the weekly Kiswahili-language newspaper Mwanahalisi were attacked and beaten by three anonymous machete-wielding assailants in their media house in Kinondoni, Dar es Salaam. Saed Kubenea and Ndimara Tegambwage were beaten and disfigured when their assailants poured acid on their faces. Kubenea, was admitted to Muhimbili Hospital, lost his sight and was expected to be flown to India for further treatment. Tegambwage, one of the founding members of MISA Tanzania, sustained head injuries requiring 15 stitches. He was treated and discharged from hospital. Talking to the media from hospital, Kubenea said he understood that the event was directly related to their work as journalists. Kubenea said the attack came after a series of death threats sent by text message, and after his car was torched by unidentified individuals in June 2007. • ALERT Date: May 7, 2008 Person/institutions: Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation Violation/issue: Legislation The Coalition on the Freedom of Information and Expression, comprising nine media and legal and human rights organisations, held a press conference on May 7 expressing concern about statements by the Minister for Information, Culture and Sports, George Mkuchika, who attacked them for not understanding and appreciating the proposed Media Services Bill. Mkuchika argued that concerns by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on government ownership of media outlets were misplaced. He stated that it was preposterous for the stakeholders to recommend that the Government should not own media, while even big western democracies like the United States and Britain owned them. The coalition countered that they consulted nationwide in a bid to get legislation that will be supportive to the growth of a free and vibrant media that would articulate the right of citizens to free expression and to get informed as articulated in Article 18 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977 as amended thereinafter. • COMMUNIQUÉ Date: July 19, 2008 Person/institutions: Media Violation/issue: Legislation The stakeholders’ proposed Media Services Bill, 2008 together with the proposed Right to Information Bill, 2008 were submitted to the Parliamentary Committee on Community Development for consideration and support. The two proposed bills were officially handed to the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee, Jenista Muhagama, and guest of honour, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Tanzania, Anna Makinda, during a two-day workshop on sensitisation that was held in Dodoma from July 17 to 18. • ALERT Date: July 26, 2008 Person: Vicky Ntetema Violation: Threatened A Tanzanian journalist, who is the Bureau Chief of the British Broadcasting Corporation in Dar es Salaam, Vicky Ntetema, has gone in hiding after receiving threats because of her undercover work exposing the dangers faced by albinos from witchdoctors. In her article published in Tanzanian tabloids titled: “Albino killings: Journalist in hiding for exposing Tanzanian witchdoctors”, Ntetema explained how she managed to enter the compounds of witchdoctors in Lake Victoria zones, especially the Mwanza, Shinyanga and Mara areas. She says that people living So This Is Democracy? 2008 -108- Media Institute of Southern Africa