Msigwa, Makoba urge journalists to safeguard national interests

DAR ES SALAAM: PERMANENT Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports and Chief Government Spokesperson, Gerson Msigwa said yesterday that journalists in the country have the responsibility to protect the country’s interests for sustainable development.

He said apart from other duties, journalists are also responsible for ensuring peace in the country.

He was speaking during the office handover with the former Chief Government Spokesperson, Mr Thobias Makoba who has been appointed an Ambassador by President Samia Suluhu Hassan recently.

On his part, Mr Makoba said that during his tenure, he had observed a great deal of patriotism among journalists and urged them to continue uniting the nation.

He said that for the three days he spent in Kariakoo when during the recent building collapse, he noted a high level of patriotism among Tanzanian journalists.

He asked the journalists to continue using their profession in supporting the government in implementing various development programmes.

The two were speaking during the handover of institutions under the information sector, whose responsibilities have been transferred to the new Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports.

The institutions handed over include the Department of Information-MAELEZO, Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC), Tanzania Standard (Newspapers) Limited (TSN) and the Accreditation Board.

Mr Msigwa said the role of journalists is to protect Tanzania and emphasised that Tanzania is a country that is not accustomed to violence.

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He said: “Our job as journalists is to protect Tanzania with our pens. I ask that our pens be used to protect our country. Our country wants peace, our country wants development, our country wants stability, our country is not used to turmoil, it is not used to violence.”

Furthermore, Msigwa promised to meet with journalists after the end-of-year holidays to develop joint strategies for advancing the sector.

Handing over the institutions in the information sector, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Nicholaus Mkapa, said that the institutions have 1,002 employees and that in the 2024/25 financial year, they have been allocated 42.5bn/-, of which 15.7bn/- is for development projects.

He said that TBC has already started constructing its headquarters in Dodoma and increasing radio coverage, while TSN has already started building a modern printing plant and has already purchased the required machinery.