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23 June 2016
The Tanzanian government has produced a new right to information bill, posted on Parliament’s website (text) and offered on first reading June 23. The bill is signed by Harrison Mwakyembe, Minister of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, and dated May 10. Activists tweeted about the new version, but there does not appear to have been news coverage […]
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10 March 2016
By Deus Kibamba The author is trained in Political Science, International Politics and International Law. This article first appeared The Citizen. There are things worthy of not forgetting in life. One of such very memorable landmarks during the Fourth Phase government of Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete is his 10-year promise to legislate for the right […]
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25 June 2015
Media stakeholders and the ruling party have recommended that a parliamentary committee be given time to make changes to the government’s proposed access to information bill and a media bill, according to a June 23 Guardian article by Felister Peter. The Assembly, however, while resolving not to debate the contentious bill Media Services Bill, had […]
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17 June 2015
Most Tanzanians support an access to information law, according to a June 15 press release from Twaweza. The non-governmental organization reported that 84 percent of those surveyed support passage of an access law and that 77 percent think information held by public institutions should be accessible to ordinary citizens. Such access would reduce corruption, said 80 […]
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27 May 2015
Tanzania and several other African countries were chastised on the subject of access to information at a recent regional meeting of Open Government Partnership held May 20-21 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, however, told the delegates that he plans to sign two controversial bills — on media regulation bill and freedom of information […]
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2 April 2015
Tanzanian officials have decided not to table a freedom of information bill with a “certificate of urgency,” again delaying action on a measure promised by the president more than a year ago. The handling of the bill, and recent passage of another bill criticized for restricting public speech, comes as the government is about to […]
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26 November 2014
By Deus Kibamba The author is Executive Director, Tanzania Citizens’ Information Bureau. This is a chapter from a recently issued State of Right to Information in Africa Report 2014 and is reprinted with permission. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Despite a strong history of pan– Africanism and being one of the first countries to embrace open competitive elections, the […]
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17 November 2014
Two top officials at Tanzania’s state-owned oil agency, arrested Nov. 3 on charges of failing to give requested information to parliament, have been released without charges, according to journalist Kizoto Makoye. The two executives had declined to provide parliament with 26 oil and gas contracts the government signed with foreign and local investors, according to […]
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6 November 2014
Two top officials at Tanzania’s state-owned oil agency were arrested Nov. 3 on charges of failing to give parliament the oil and gas contracts the government signed with foreign and local investors, according to an article by Kizoto Makoye for the Thompson Reuters Foundation. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts instructed police to arrest James […]
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25 September 2014
The president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, said Sept. 24 that a freedom of information bill would be approved in February, 2015. His commitment came at a meeting in New York commemorating the third anniversary of the Open Government Partnership (video link). In October 2013 at the OGP summit in London, he had pledged to pass a […]
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9 May 2014
A top minister in Tanzania has stated that a paper proposing a freedom of information bill has been prepared. The disclosure by Constitutional and Legal Affairs Minister Asha-Rose Migiro was reported May 5 in The Guardian. She said the government is committed to observing Open Government Partnership (OGP) as part of its efforts to enhance […]
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5 August 2013
Harvard University researchers have been awarded $8.1 million for a five-year project to research the impact of community transparency and accountability initiatives on health and other social sector outcomes, beginning in Indonesia and Tanzania. The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University announced that it […]
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11 February 2013
Tanzania’s Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Mathias Chikawe, recently told representatives of the National Coalition on Right to Information that the government will seek public input on the drafting of a law. “As long as I am here, I will make sure we get more views so that we won’t be criticised for not […]
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4 February 2013
The Tanzanian government has said more research is necessary before it introduces a freedom of information bill. Amos Makalla, Deputy Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, said Feb. 1 that a bill will not be tabled in the National Assembly soon, which was “widely anticipated by stakeholders including media practitioners,” according to an article […]
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25 June 2012
With the submission of most national action plans in the past and their review in the future, recent news about the Open Government Partnership lately has centered on the first study of the action plans and efforts to persuade countries to join or to live up to OGP ideals. Activists in Ireland and Hungary are seeking […]
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16 December 2011
Various Open Government Partnership countries have starting holding public consultation on their national action plans, according to reports culled from the media, tweets, and government announcements. News on this front includes: – Latvia starting a working group, – Tanzania posting a draft plan, and – Canada holding a Twitter consultation. The OGP is not maintaining […]
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21 January 2011
The Tanzanian government wants to pass a freedom of information law, according to a top official quoted in the media. “The government will do everything possible to make sure that the bill is enacted and implemented accordingly,” the Minister of Information and Culture, Dr. Emmanuel Nchimbi told media stakeholders in Dar es Salaam Jan. 19, […]
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2 December 2009
The goal of strengthening the media as one way to fight corruption was adopted by the World Bank in 2006, but the promise has gone virtually unfulfilled, according to research by freedominfo.org.
