Tanzanian government halts critical weekly newspaper for six months

Tanzania's Information Services Department ordered a six-month shutdown of the weekly newspaper Mwanahalisi, accusing it of violating the Media Services Act after it published a piece alleging internal conflict between Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi and President Samia Suluhu Hassan. The ministry criticized the article for lacking balance, pointing out that Nchimbi was not consulted and that claims linked to the information minister were not independently corroborated.

Officials also highlighted an error where a photo of the information minister was incorrectly captioned as Nchimbi. The suspension covers both the paper's print and digital editions and takes effect immediately, with the outlet given a 30-day window to challenge the decision. In a related move, another newspaper, Jamvi la Habari, was summoned for questioning over recent stories. Mwanahalisi had previously been allowed to resume publishing in early 2022 after a ban under former President John Magufuli, and the country currently ranks 117th out of 180 in press freedom according to Reporters Without Borders.