Kwanza Broadcasting Limited to appeal against suspension

Dar es Salaam. The management of Kwanza Broadcasting Limited is intending to appeal against the suspension of Kwanza TV operations for six months by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

The regulator, through its content committee, banned Kwanza online television in September, this year, for airing a story that is said to be sensational and aimed at misleading the public.

The company’s director, Maria Sarungi, said in a statement yesterday that the intention follows an announcement of the Fair Competition Tribunal of Tanzania published in The Guardian newspaper, on 18/10/2019, requiring interested parties to appeal within seven days of the publication.

“We would like to inform the public that we will appeal against the judgment No. 05 of September 2019/2020, issued by the Tanzania Telecommunications Authority (TCRA), under the Content Committee which suspended our ‘Kwanza TV’ for six months due to allegations of violating the regulations set under the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations 2018,” she said in a statement.

In a telephone conversation, Ms Sarungi told The Citizen that the measures taken against Kwanza TV were ‘unfair and the company has already started legal processes of appealing.

“We had complained to the Fair Competition Commission (FCC), which announced the chance to appeal. We are currently waiting for the date to be set for us to appeal at the Court of Appeal,” she said.

According to her, the company is now losing a lot of money since its sources of revenue were closed down.

Apart from imposing the ban on Kwanza TV, the authority also fined other online media outlets: Millard Ayo and Watetezi TV by violating the regulations set under the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations 2018.

The committee slapped a Sh5 million fine apiece on Millard Ayo and Watetezi Online television for failure to publish their editorial policies and user guidelines.