CORPORATE FINANCEECONOMIC & PUBLIC POLICY MEDIA
JUNE 2009
President Jakaya Kikwete was the first African head of State to visit the White House under the Obama administration, an event that did notgo unnoticed. Meanwhile, residents of Mbagala have been trying topiece their lives back together in the aftermath of the armoury disasterthat has been rocking the area with explosions. On the competitiveside of things, the NECTA Form VI results are in, and the Busandaby-election brought about another face-off between CCM and theopposition.In the Business Notes section, The East African comments on thequiet collapse of Tanzania’s fledgeling dairy industry, while TheBusiness Times ponders a report on the implications of EU-EACEconomic Partnership Agreements. To wrap things up, Yellow Couchraided the news stands, picked up a few local magazines and settleddown for a cozy read.
MEDIA REPORT: MAY 2009
Headline News Analysis Top-Ranking Headline Stories
Military/Society: Mbagala bomb blasts
At the very end of April, a number of bombs exploded at theMbagala barracks during what turned out to be a routine exercise atthe armoury. A number of military personnel and civilians lost theirlives, and properties close to the blast site suffered some damage. Theround-up of the full story can be read on page 4.
Politics: The Busanda by-election
The campaign for the parliament seat left open after the passing of Mr. Faustin Kabuzi Rwilomba (CCM-Busanda) in March kickedoff on the 3rd of the month. The opposition parties, Chadema inparticular, have been giving the ruling party significant pressure and visible competition whenever a seat in the legislature comes free-‘Chadema yazindua kampeni kwa kisukuma’ [
Chadema launches campaign in KiSukuma
] (
Majira Jumapili,
3rd May), ‘Chadema, CUF vyaikamiaCCM jimboni Busanda’ [
Chadema, CUF a menace to CCM in Busanda constituency
] (
Mwananchi,
3rd May). However, CCM’s greatest threatseemed to come from within the party as reports exposed internaldivisions and general party member dissatisfaction in Geita whichmight cause them to perform badly at the polls: ‘CCM yahofia kilioBusanda’ [
CCM fears defeat in Busanda
] (
Majira,
8th May), ‘Waziri Ngelejaawekwa kiti moto Busanda’ [
Minister Ngeleja put in the hot seat in busanda
]
(
Mwananchi,
11th May).
Media/Corruption: Mengi vs. Aziz
During the week in which the apparent controversy was at its peak, acouple of papers questioned the utility of the whole exercise: ‘Whereis the Govt?’ (
The Citizen,
5th May), ‘Mipasho ya Mengi, Rostam nikwa manufaa ya nani?’ [
Mengi, Rostam war for whose benefit?
] (
Majira,
6th
May), ‘Malumbano ya Mengi, Rostam hayana tija kwa Watanzania’[
Mengi, Rostam argument is of no use to Tanzanians
] (
Uhuru,
6th May). Inthe event, both Mr. Mengi and Mr. Aziz continued to fight for the truthon behalf of the Tanzanian people: ‘Rostam reports Mengi to PCCB’(
Daily News,
6th May), ‘Mengi sues Rostam Aziz for 10bn/-‘ (
Daily News,
7th May). The Government eventually stepped in: ‘Warning toMengi, Rostam is dismissed as too belated’ (
The Citizen,
12th May).
Corruption: The Liyumba trial
Mr. Amatus Liyumba, who was charged in January with three countsof misuse of office in January in a joint case with his former BoTcolleague Mr. Dawson Kweka, almost tasted freedom when theprosecution asked for his charges to be dropped after the defensehad pointed out their defects: ‘Prosecution asks court to dropLiyumba charges’ (
The Citizen,
7th May), ‘State now admits chargesagainst Liyumba defective’ (
Daily News,
7th May). This tactic wouldallow the State to avoid having Mr. Liyumba aquitted, and would buy the prosecution time to rectify the mistakes that it committed whencharging Mr. Liyumba the first time around. Indeed, later in the monththe court dismissed the charges against Mr. Liyumba and Mr. Kweka, whereupon they were immediately arrested and put in remand by plainclothes policemen who were attending the trial: ‘Lawyers protestas freed Liyumba arrested again’ (
The Citizen,
28th May). Mr. Liyumba was charged with two counts of abuse of office and occasioning pecuniary loss to the government the next day, although Mr. Kweka was not: ‘Liyumba charged afresh’ (
This Day,
29th May).
Crime: The Zombe trial
The murder trial of former Dar es salaam Regional Crime Officer, Mr. Abdallah Zombe, is approaching its end. The last accused presentedMay was a two-story month for the press. Nothing could holdjournalists’ attention longer than the vigorously contested Busandaby-election, not even the loss of lives and destruction of houses inMbagala, although that story generated a few more headlines over thecourse of the month. The top two stories together took up nearly aquarter of the headline count, while no topic –apart from Mengi-Azizconflict- was able to generate more than a week’s worth of interest. The clear bias towards political stories is interesting to note in thisinstance, considering the financial and human cost of the Mbagalabombings and the military’s role in it.In spite of the electoral irregularities- ‘CCM wanswa wakinunuashahada jimboni Busanda’ [
CCM caught buying voter registrations in Busanda
] (
Nipashe,
12th May), ‘Chadema wakwamisha kikao cha Tume Busanda’ [
Chadema hold up Commision meeting in Busanda
]
(
Mwananchi,
13th May), ‘Polisi zaidi wamwagwa Busanda’ [
More police sent to Busanda
] (
Mwananchi,
19th May), the election itself was more peaceful than had been anticipated. CCM managed toretain its seat in spite of early reports to the contrary: ‘Oppositionchanges Busanda poll history’ (
The Guardian,
25th May), ‘CCM wins, turnout low’ (
The Guardian,
26th May).Last month, Mr. Reginald Mengi of IPP Media publicly exposedhis list of ‘the most corrupt’ people in the country. The exercisegave rise to some intense reactions that varied in perspectivedepending on the media house: ‘UVCCM Tabora yamwonyaMengi’ [
UVCCM Tabora warn Mengi
] (
Habari Leo
), ‘Mengi, Dk.Slaa wapongezwa’ [
Mengi, Dr. Slaa congratulated
] (
Nipashe Jumapili,
3rd May), ‘Hoja ya Mengi yaligawa taifa’ [
Mengi’s statement divides the nation
] (
Tanzania Daima,
3rd May), ‘Rostam hits back at Mengi’ (
The African,
4th May).
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