Member
of the Constituent Assembly Tundu Lissu stresses a point in one of the
House sessions in Dodoma recently. On Saturday TBC live broadcasts,
both TV and radio were disconnected as he made a presentation due to
what was explained as a consequence of hostile weather in Dar es Salaam.
PHOTO | SALHIM SHAO.
Dodoma. The Coalition
of Defenders of the People’s Constitution (Ukawa) has accused Tanzania
Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) of deliberately interrupting coverage of
the Constituent Assembly session on Saturday.
Ukawa chairman Freeman Mbowe said yesterday that the move meant to favour CCM interests in the assembly.
Mr Mbowe
said by shutting down live television and radio coverage of the CA
debate when Tundu Lissu was presenting minority views was proof of the
State broadcaster’s ill motive towards those with a divergent opnion.
“Lissu’s
case should not be taken in isolation. If you follow keenly on their
reportage, you will agree with me that all TBC programmes are in favour
of CCM’s stand on the two-government structure.
“The only
time you hear of the three-government system is when a member of the
Constituent Assembly (MCA), who is not from CCM, defends the structure,”
he observed.
According
to Mr Mbowe, TBC is not doing a fair reportage as it ought to. “This
media house is operated using taxpayers’ money regardless of their
political affiliations. The government is but a custodian…so it has to
report all sides of the coin fairly,” he pointed out.
A similar
blame was also levelled against state-owned newspapers Daily
News and Habari Leo. Ukawa warned that what TBC was doing was dividing
the country, warning that the latter would set a wrong platform which
might compromise national stability.
“This
happened in Rwanda where it was also the media which was used by the
government to spread ethnic hatred to the extent of causing the (1994)
genocide. We have to learn from these mistakes,” stressed Mr Tundu
Lissu.
Ukawa also accused the minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports of being behind the plot.
The coalition said the minister controlled whatever content went on air as far as the constitution-making process was concerned.
“She even
dictates who should be interviewed. And you can see that all of them
are in favour of the CCM stand,” Mr Mbowe claimed.
Attempts
to get the minister to respond to the allegations by press time
yesterday bore no fruit as this reporter’s calls went unanswered and so
were his short text messages. The CA adjourned prematurely on Saturday
after live TV and radio coverage of the session were abruptly
interrupted.
The
broadcast was suddenly interrupted at around noon as outspoken CA member
Tundu Lissu was presenting the report of minority members of House
Committee Number Four.
Mr Lissu
went on with his speech for fear of wasting the limited time he had been
allocated even as protests from the MCAs gained pace.
This
prompted Mr Mbowe to ask the Assembly chairman, Mr Samuel Sitta: “TBC,
which has all along been broadcasting this debate live via television
and radio, there are reports this has been interrupted its service. What
can you tell Tanzanians, Mr Chairman?”
Mr Sitta
responded that the CA had entered into a contract with the government
and the public broadcaster to ensure the House debates and other
proceedings reached the people in real time.
“I order
the CA clerk to immediately find out exactly what happened,” he added.
“In case it is a technical hitch, we should resume shortly.”
Mr
Sitta eventually announced that bad weather in Dar was to blame, which
led to an uproar as some MCAs sympathised with TBC, saying they were
aware that the Julius Nyerere International Airport had been shut down
and that some key roads had been closed as a result of the downpour.“We
cannot continue,” Mr Sitta said amid cheers from the MCAs. He addedd:
“I direct the CA clerk to allocate time for Mr Lissu to finish his
presentation when we resume on Monday.”
But Dr
Hamisi Kigwangalla, who presented the report of the majority members of
the CA Committee Number Four on behalf of its chair, Mr Christopher ole
Sendeka, loudly insisted on seeking guidance from the chair.
“Would
you please clarify which, between Standing Orders Number 32 on
presentations of committee reports and Number 62(1) applies in extending
time for a presentation of a report by the minority,” he asked amid
protests from most MCAs.
“This
only occurs when you have bogus politicians in the House,” Mr Sitta
remarked, sparking more protests in the august House, with some MCAs
claiming he had been elected through favouritism.
“It’s
hard to understand me if you aren’t intelligent enough,” Mr Kigwangalla
responded, insisting that he wanted to know which of the two Standing
Order clauses Mr Sitta applied when he adjourned the House.
“What
we’re doing here is very important,” Mr Sitta responded. “We entered
into a contract with the broadcaster to ensure the debates are conveyed
to wananchi.” While Mr Sitta insisted that he had extended time for
presentation of the report by minority members of the CA Committee No.
Four for the sake of fairness, Mr Kigwangalla maintained that the chair
was biased, arguing that the interruption of live broadcasts didn’t
warrant adjournment of the session.
The CA
chairman clarified that he had applied clause number 85 of the Standing
Orders which gives him power to nullify any other clause as well as
85(4) which says a session could be adjourned for various reasons.
“And one
of the reasons in question is what has just happened. For the sake of
fairness, when live broadcasts are interrupted when any MCA is
presenting, let me know so I can do the same,” he stressed. (Source: The Citizen)
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