DAR ES SALAAM: MEDIA practitioners in the country have been urged to familiarise with regulations and guidelines governing the Local Government Election so as to ensure accurate and effective reporting on the upcoming civic poll scheduled for November 27 this year.
The call was made in Dar es Salaam recently by Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) Gender Researcher and Analyst Deogratius Temba during a three-day training for journalists on gender -sensitive reporting, with a focus on promoting women’s participation in leadership.
The training which brought together a total of 50 journalists from Mtwara, Lindi, Coast and Dar es Salaam regions was organised by TGNP in collaboration with Tanzania Development Information Organisation (TADIO) under the ‘Women Leadership and Economic Rights’ project funded by UN Women.
“As the country heads toward local government election, TGNP thought the importance of reviewing the regulations with journalists to ensure they understand and adhere to them while carrying out their duties,” Mr Temba said.
He emphasised that journalists covering election news must be wellversed in election regulations, guidelines and other procedures to avoid unintentionally disrupting the election process and to prevent potential professional challenges, including conflicts with candidates or authorities overseeing the election.
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Speaking on behalf of the TGNP Executive Director Lilian Liundi, the organisation’s Communications Officer Monica John said that the training focused on increasing women’s participation in leadership roles and various decision-making levels by addressing oppressive customs and traditions that hinder woman from becoming leaders.
“This training will equip us, as journalists, with different strategies to promote women’s participation in leadership by leveraging on the opportunities presented by the upcoming local government election,” she said.
She said, according to the 2019 Local Government Election report from the President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government, in villages, out of 11,915 positions for village chairpersons, women won only 246 seats, representing 2.1 per cent of all chairpersons, while men accounted for 97.9 per cent. Among the 4,171 positions for street chairpersons, women won 528 seats, which is 12.6 per cent, while men made up 87.4 per cent of all street chairpersons.
Out of 62,612 positions for hamlet chairpersons, women won 4,171 seats, representing 6.7 per cent of all hamlet chairpersons.
She called upon journalists to ensure that citizen get accurate information so that they can participate effectively in the upcoming crucial democratic process.
The government has set November 27 of this year as the voting day and declared it a public holiday to provide all citizens with the opportunity to cast their votes.
President Samia and other leaders have emphasised the importance of all eligible Tanzanians actively participating in the electoral process by electing competent local government leaders to enhance the quality of the upcoming general election next year.
