Another Tanzanian newspaper banned for criticizing the government

The Tanzanian government has banned a weekly newspaper Raia Mwema for 90 days over an article criticizing the John Magufuli-led government.

The Director of Information Services Dr Hassan Abbas announced the ban in a statement saying the tabloid had published wrong quotes of the president, regional news portal The EastAfrican reported.

The story that got the newspaper banned had a Swahili headline meaning “John Magufuli’s presidency doomed to fail”.

The newspaper has faced warnings in the past and one of its directors confirmed to local media that they were banned because of the article on Wednesday and other old articles of 2013.

Another weekly tabloid Mwanahalisi was banned for two years over a week ago after it was accused of inciting violence. It was the second time the newspaper had been closed in three months.

In June, the Mawio newspaper was banned over articles it published linking two former presidents to alleged improprieties in mining deals signed in the 1990s and early 2000s.

In November, Magufuli signed into law a bill that journalists said was aimed at muzzling freedom of the press.

The Media Services Act of 2016 gives officials powers to shut down media organisations that violate their licenses and requires newspapers to apply for an annual license.

The Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations 2017 was recently passed by parliament to regulate online and social media content.