TANZANIA: MEDIA LAW REFORM PROCESS LACKS MOMENTUM were harassed, intimidated and kidnapped for exposing corruption.(1) Former President John Magufuli, who died in March 2021, was considered hostile to the media to maintain his stronghold. During his term, Tanzania tumbled down the world press freedom index, from 71 in 2016 to 124 in 2021, out of 180 countries.(2) By Elizabeth Riziki His successor, Samia Suluhu, adopted a more liberal stance. In her first month in office, Suluhu announced plans to break with the past which made Tanzania continue being infamous for violations of press freedom. INTRODUCTION She then instructed the minister of information to lift some media bans imposed during President Magufuli’s tenure.(3) AST year’s commemorations of the Africa regional World Press Freedom Day in Tanzania were not only historic in the sense that it was held in the country, but it also set the tone for normalising relations between the state and the media. During Magufuli’s tenure, a Zanzibar journalist was apprehended by authorities in 2021 on suspicion of making a video in which someone from the ruling party criticised Zanzibar’s President Hussein Ali Mwinyi. L This is a marked shift from yesteryear statistics recorded over the past six years where media outlets were shut down while journalists After President’s Suluhu appointment, four newspapers known for being critical of the government and “offering alternative views” had their licences reinstated after years-long 57