By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,
DURBAN
ALL countries worldwide
have in place immigration restrictions for foreigners seeking to visit them
either for work, holiday or any other official engagement and journalists are not
out of the ordinary when it comes to the rules.
In Tanzania through the
Media Services Act, 2016, any foreign journalist wishing to visit the country,
apart from other immigration procedures, must be accredited by respective
government institution, the Tanzania Information Services, commonly known as
Maelezo.
Section 19, sub-section
(3) of the legislation clearly stipulates that; “A journalist who is not a
citizen of the United Republic of Tanzania or is not regarded as a permanent
resident by virtue of immigration laws should be accredited for a specified
purpose for a period of not exceeding ninety days.”
Many journalists have
visited Tanzania on various occasions, and as a matter of fact, dozens of them
are currently in the southern regions of Mtwara, Lindi and Ruvuma, covering the
bold decision by the government to engage the state-owned agriculture bank and
the army in the purchase of cashew nuts.
I have personally reported
in Tanzania and Nairobi in the past, members of the media and those who came
before have been welcomed by authorities to swiftly perform their journalistic
work because they adhered to rules and regulations of the land by obtaining the
required accreditation.
This is however
different with the so called journalists turned ‘press freedom advocates’,
South African Angela Quintal and a Kenyan Muthoki Mumo, who sneaked into
Tanzania under a camouflage on visiting on holiday and yet they were working on
what some analysts, but I still doubt, have alluded to be a clandestine
mission.
The two, as I said, many
would now want to believe are probably intelligence sources or under cover
agents, sneaked into Tanzania on October 31, 2018, through the Julius Nyerere
International Airport (JNIA), indicating that they were ‘holiday makers.’
South Africa being a
close-ally of Tanzania since the struggle to end apartheid and fellow member of
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) continues to enjoy cordial
bi-lateral relations. The same applies to Tanzania and Kenya, which are members
of the East African Community (EAC) and share many cultures including Kiswahili
language.
As a matter of fact,
through the spirit of SADC and EAC, South African visiting Tanzania on holiday
obtains a visa on arrival and the same applies to Kenyans through the
arrangement of the EAC. South Africa and Kenya have reciprocal measures for
Tanzanians in their country.
And thus, had the duo
visited Tanzania for holiday as they indicated upon arrival there would no
problem with authorities. The issue was, why arrange surreptitious meetings
with local media organizations, activists and politicians?
If they really wanted to
have these engagements formally they should have indicated so upon which they
would have been advised to acquire the required accreditation to perform their
activities under the laws and regulations of the land.
The fact that the two
are senior journalists they should have known of these rules but since they
chose to go undercover proves that they were in the country for an
ill-intentioned mission, proving also that they are spies rather than
journalists as they purport to be.
Even during
interrogation with Immigration Officials in Tanzania they admitted of their
blunder and apologized. Surprisingly, after going back to South Africa, Angela
Quintal penned as article blaming Tanzanian authorities of “repression.”
The article is full of
blatant lies trying to paint Tanzania negatively and they were the one on the
wrong for their unprofessional acts and clandestine mission.
During interrogation
with officials, the Immigration in Tanzania said, the two foreigners admitted to be on what they
described as “10-day visit, primarily as a networking and fact-finding mission
to gauge media freedom in Tanzania.”
The Spokesperson of the
Immigration Department in Tanzania, Mr Ally Mtanda, was categorical that
officials had established that they started holding meetings with local
journalists which is contrary to the conditions of their entry permits.
“If they were intending
to hold meetings with journalists or politicians, then they should have
contacted the relevant authorities before they started doing those
activities,’’ he explained.
The Acting Chairperson
and Secretary of Tanzania Editors Forum (TEF), Deodatus Balile and Neville
Meena, respectively, confirmed to have met the two at Southern Sun Hotel in the
central business district in Dar es Salaam.
Luckily enough, the
South African government through International Relations and Co-operation
Minister, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu, condemned Quintal and her accomplice Mumo for
their unprofessional acts while in Tanzania.
The South African
Minister was clear-cut that the government of Tanzania was entitled to act
against Quintal and Mumo because they had entered Tanzania incorrectly on
visitor or tourist visas while actually intending to do media advocacy business
in Tanzania.
Quintal, a former editor
of the Mail & Guardian, Witness and Mercury, is Africa Programme Director
at the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Mumo is the
Sub-Saharan Africa representative.
In the US, the Department
of State-Bureau of Consular Affairs requires foreign media practitioners to
obtain non-immigrant visa for temporary stay or an immigrant visa for permanent
visa.
“Activities in the
United States must be informational in nature and generally associated with the
news gathering process and reporting current events,” reads part of visa
requirements on the Department’s website.
Majority of SADC member
states and EAC issue visas on arrivals but media practitioners need to understand
specific requirements for each country ahead of their travels.
“Visitors’ visas may
also have limitations on what activities can be conducted in the respective
countries with regard to work and employment even on short term basis such as
during the SADC Summit,” the 15-member grouping says on its website.
Given the above facts,
it is apparent clear that Quintal and Mumo were in Tanzania for an undercover
mission but Tanzanian migration and intelligence officials were smarter and
acted quickly to thwart their ill-intentioned activity. As a former media
practitioner, I condemn such a behavior.
Ends
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