Mkapa: Why I gave nod to ‘The Citizen’, ‘Mwananchi’

Dar es Salaam. Former President Benjamin Mkapa has revealed why he allowed the establishment of The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers in Tanzania during his leadership.

 He made the revelation in response to a question on the role that past African leaders played as part of efforts to strengthen opposition as well as democracy, offering a lesson to today’s wielders of power who have a negative view a vibrant, independent and responsible press.

Mr Mkapa, who led Tanzania between 1995 and 2005, told participants to the African Leadership Forum in Dar es Salaam last week, that he created an environment that allowed the media industry to flourish.

 “I can’t remember now…I may have banned one or two supposed newspapers, but during my tenure, the newspaper industry did flourish…in fact, I personally encouraged the founding of Mwananchi publications – The Citizen and so on,” he said.  The maiden editorial for The Citizen, which hit the newsstands for the first time on September 16, 2004, was written by President Mkapa. The Citizen newspaper has since flourished, and will be commemorating its 10th anniversary later in September.

At the same time, he said, he made sure he was not an obstacle to the growth of opposition political parties. However, during his leadership, the police was on the spotlight for using excessive force in dealing with the Opposition, mainly the Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) and Civic United Front (CUF) in the Mainland and Zanzibar, respectively.

Mr Mkapa said he created an enabling environment that helped democracy to thrive during his rule despite challenges brought by the newness of multiparty politics.

 This is the first time the former President is revealing how he personally played a role of encouraging the setting up of The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers.

 Though Mr Mkapa did not elaborate further, Nation Media Group (NMG) Chairman, Wilfred Kiboro is on record as having been quoted in October last year (2013) saying that the leading media company in East and Central Africa decided to acquire a stake in Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) after President Mkapa himself invited the Nairobi-headquartered firm to come and invest in Tanzania.

 “I remember at that time when I was the company’s chief executive officer, I accompanied the then NMG board chairman to meet President Mkapa in Arusha. In the course of our discussion, he invited us to come and invest in Tanzania,’’ said Mr Kiboro at an October 2013 event in Dar es Salaam.  He said the former president told them that he would be happy to see Tanzanians being informed by a media house that adheres to professionalism.

 NMG’s investment in the media industry in Tanzania had contributed immensely to the country’s economy through tax compliance, he said, adding that there was no hidden agenda as claimed in some quarters.

 “The only agenda that MCL has is strengthening cooperation in East African. There isn’t an iota of proof that MCL operates through directives issued from Kenya,’’ Mr Kiboro said. He said all editors at Tanzania’s leading media house worked according the company’s editorial policy.

 Convened by Mr Mkapa and coordinated by Uongozi Institute, the African Leaders Forum, which was held in Dar es Salaam on Thursday last week, was attended by former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Festus Mogae (Botswana) and Thabo Mbeki (South Africa).

Also in attendance were celebrated scholars, senior public and private sector officials from various countries, diplomats and members of the civil society organisations (CSOs).

 Mr Mbeki delivered a keynote address with the title: ‘Managing Diversity in Africa’ – which was chosen largely due to the fact that the continent is home to multiplicity of ethnic, cultural, racial, religious, socioeconomic, gender, political and biological markers.

Some participants noted that instead of diversity being used as a source of strength and opportunity for development, the situation has partly been the cause of some of the tension and numerous conflicts that have rocked many countries on the continent. Mr Mkapa was specifically reacting to views by a renowned academic, Prof Mwesiga Baregu, who said Africa’s backwardness was partly due to the fact that governments have not embraced diversity under multiparty democracy. The ex-president reacted by saying that  while he did not belabour to foster the Opposition, he was not an obstacle to it when it strived to foster itself.

“I didn’t foster the Opposition…It is their (political parties’) duty to foster themselves…my duty is to foster my ruling party because I am its boss…I didn’t put any obstacle to their fostering themselves…I didn’t put obstacles to anyone outside the country to foster the Opposition…I did not ask them where they got their funds,” said Mr Mkapa.

He, however, conceded that being the first president under multiparty politics, the government he and even those in the Opposition were still learning on how to work under the system.