Tanzania With all this happening in Tanzania, critics are uncertain whether the country, from a media freedom perspective, is moving in the right direction. On a positive note, 2017 saw over 110 journalists in Mwanza, Mara, Geita, Simiyu, Manyara, Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Kigoma being steered through the array of new media laws in a bid to deepen their understanding of the media legal regime. The media training was aimed at providing them with protection against legal battles they are facing. A number of journalists enrolled in universities and colleges to meet the professional requirements of the law, as stipulated in the Media Services Act of 2016 and the Media Services Regulations of 2017, requiring, at the very minimum, a diploma to qualify for registration as a practicing journalist. Fostering free, independent and pluralistic media in print, broadcast and online is essential if media development has to have a meaning. It is in this respect that MISA Tanzania will enhance freedom of expression, and thus contribute to peace, sustainability, poverty eradication and human rights in Tanzania. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Freedom of expression, which is guaranteed in the Tanzanian Constitution, has been undermined by the enactment of the Media Services Act (MSA) 2016, the National Security Act (2016), the Statistics Act (2015), and the Cybercrimes Act (2015), all of which severely curtail media freedoms and access to information. The MSA grants authorities sweeping powers “to prevent or put obstacles to the publication of any content that endangers national security or public safety”, thereby replacing self-regulation of the media with government regulation. Critics argue that this array of restrictive legislation is coupled with President Magufuli’s outspoken stance against any form of negative criticism, whether it is from citizens or from the media. The president used the podium during the swearing in of the Minister of Information, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, to issue a warning to the media fraternity: “I would like to tell media owners - be careful, watch it. If you think you have that kind of freedom, [it is] not to that extent.” According to a Reuters report he ordered Mwakyembe “to clamp down on media organizations that publish or broadcast material deemed to incite unrest, saying his government would not allow a few individuals to destabilize east Africa’s second-biggest economy (...).” The Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) recorded nationwide violations against 46 human rights defenders ranging from arrests to malicious prosecutions, forced disappearances, threats, intimidation, torture and decriminalisation of expression. Artist Ibrahim Musa alias Roma Mkatoliki and 3 fellow artists Moni, Bello and Emma were kidnapped from a recording studio in Dar es Salaam and went missing for two days before they were found at Oyster Bay Police Station. The results of the investigation into their torture and abduction have never been released and neither has the police issued a statement on the progress of the investigation. Hip-hop artist Emanuel Elibariki alias Nay wa Mitego was arrested by the police in the Morogoro region for allegedly releasing a song that insults the president. Ney wa Mitego’s song questioned freedom of expression in Tanzania. He So This is Democracy? 2017 109