misconduct and suggested that the police arrest him and that he be relieved of his duties as a Commissioner of TACAIDS as he was not fit to be in that position because of his conduct. Mr. Liundi countered that the story was untrue and highly defamatory and he had been highly distressed and that the public was misled and confused by the story. Mr. Liundi said that Kiu did not even give him a right of reply. Despite a letter by the secretariat to the Editor of Kiu informing him of the complaint and requesting his cooperation in resolving the matter by providing the council with relevant information and explanations about the story, no response has come from it. Another case involved a member of the ruling party who, a Kiswahili daily reported, had to appear before the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) over allegations of abuse of power, when in fact, the official had never faced such interrogation. The matter was resolved amicably Media violations There have been a number of media violations over the year. Not all of them have been recorded, but those recorded include the assault of a female journalist in Tanga region by police officers in an incident in April 2007. The journalist was beaten and seriously injured. She was paralysed for some time. Journalists had a further share of their fate when they were assaulted by the State Guards in Arusha. A journalist who was allegedly drunk at the time was beaten by the guards after parking his car near the state house at night. There is no proof of what exactly happened before the assault. As mentioned earlier in this report, the most disappointing incident was the acquittal of the accused Prison warders by the Kisutu Resident Magistrates Court. Death threats to a number of journalists, mostly involved in investigative journalism, were reported. Some of these threats were actually carried out as journalists were assaulted or had their properties damaged. Among those who received threats were Baraka Islam of This Day and Saed Kubebea of MwanaHALISI. Access to information The Government opened more avenues for sharing information with the public through the website www.wananchi.go.tz. The website aims to provide easy access to people for information from authorities. But because of poor human resources capacity the government is facing problems in its implementation. The Government has made other attempts like those mentioned under Media-Government relationship to provide wider access to information. But its success is yet to be tested. The Code of Ethics and Conduct for Public Service issued in June 1999 by the Civil Service Commission, prohibiting public servants from communicating with the media on issues related to work or official policy without due permission is still in force. So far even a cabinet minister cannot make and ‘unauthorized’ statement. The government, however, has made assurances that it will install a mechanism that provides for citizens to demand information that is useful to them. The mechanism would also provide for appeals procedures in the event citizens are denied information they demand or request. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -103- Media Institute of Southern Africa