Twaweza clarifies letter 'leak' in polling row with Costech

Dar es Salaam. The organization at the center of a row with a government agency over an opinion poll has said that it was not behind the leaking of an official letter on the matter.  

Read more: ‘Twaweza letter was not meant for social media’, Costech says 

Twaweza Executive Director Aidan Eyakuze has clarified that the letter circulating on social media does not display the organization’s stamp as is routine. 

“All letters that are delivered to Twaweza are stamped in the presence of the individual who has delivered them, to acknowledge receipt,” said Mr Eyauze in a statement sent to the media. 

He said Twaweza respects communication with its stakeholders. Mr Eyakuze was responding to an earlier protest by Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Costech) which questioned the source of the letter it wrote to Twaweza. 

Earlier today, Costech’s Acting Director General Dr Amos Nungu confirmed that the letter was indeed from his organization, noting however that he was saddened to find legitimate official communication circulating on social media even before a response was made.

The letter in question regards an opinion poll on politics that was conducted by Twaweza and whose key results highlight was the finding that President John Magufuli’s popularity has plunged from 71 per cent in 2017 to 55 per cent in 2018. The rating for the President was 96 per cent in 2016. 

Costech wrote the letter to Twaweza suggesting they may have broken the law in conducting and publishing the results of the poll. The agency said in its letter that Twaweza should explain why disciplinary measures should not be taken against them over the opinion polling.    

On Twaweza’s website, Mr Eyakuze, while accepting that they received the said letter from Costech, said they were still working on their response.