Govt vows to ban songs that promote moral decadence

What you need to know:

  • In recent days a number of artistes have found themselves in government’s black book after releasing songs or uttering statements which belittle the social ethical fabrics

Dodoma. Information, Youth, Arts and Sports Minister, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, has insisted that the government would, by any means, protect the country from moral decadence and would not hesitate to ban any songs that raise moral concerns.

Dr Mwakyembe said this in Parliament on Tuesday April 10 when responding to a question raised by Special Seats MP, Ms Catherine Magige, who claimed that the government had failed to oversee the content of music productions in the country and opted to ban the songs long after they are distributed widely in multiple platforms.

Ms Magige was asking a supplementary question following a basic question raised by Morogoro South MP, Prosper Mbena who wanted to know if there was any department in government that responds to complaints raised by the public against companies that run adverts that  negatively affect society.

 

 

Minister Mwakyembe stepped in to respond to the concerns, after an earlier attempt by his deputy, Juliana Shonza.

Dr Mwakyembe said Tanzania was not the only country that bans songs after they have been already played in the media.

He said there are similar examples in Nigeria and United States, to cite but a few countries, which had been banned after the public reacted.

Earlier, Ms Shonza said the government was taking measures against companies that run "toxic" adverts in public.