SINGIDA: INFORMATION Officers and government executives have been urged to cultivate a culture of providing information promptly, accurately and without any hindrance to journalists whenever required.
The call was made here on Friday by the Assistant Director of the Tanzania Information Services (MAELEZO), Mr Rodney Thadeus during the closing ceremony of a three-day training session for editors, information officers and journalists from Dodoma and Singida regions.
The training, which aimed to equip media professionals with various skills on how to write and broadcast development news adeptly, was organised by the Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA) in collaboration with the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
Mr Rodney urged government executives and their information officers not to obstruct or delay the dissemination of information under the guise of the 30-day period, as doing so, violates the public’s right to timely and accurate information.
He cautioned against the misuse of the 2016 Access to Information Act, which mandates that responses to information requests be provided within 30 days.
“Do not hide yourselves undet the 2016 law, as doing so delays the provision of information to the public. If responses can be provided on the same day, the concerned individual should be given the information immediately… and it is not always necessary for every requested information to be written down, unless the responses require statistics,” he emphasised, adding:
“I hear that some government officials and even information officers avoid journalists. This is fear from unknown. If the information is still being processed, tell the journalist instead of avoiding them,” he said.
He said that transparency and accountability are crucial in strengthening public trust in the government and the media.
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He further, emphasised the importance of creativity and boldness among journalists in reporting on development issues and its implementation, urging the trained participants to be responsible and enhance their knowledge to improve the dissemination of development articles and other government activities to the public.
Earlier, Singida Regional Commissioner Ms Halima Dendego emphasised the importance of cooperation between the government and the media in promoting development issues and providing accurate information to the public.
Providing a brief report on the implementation of development activities in the region, she noted significant achievements in various sectors such as education, health, water, and infrastructure showering much praise to the President, Samia Suluhu Hassan for providing immense monetary funds to the region for the implementation of the projects.
Some participants said the training had been a catalyst for them to write and broadcast development news with higher quality, while others requested that education on Artificial Intelligence (AI) be provided to every journalist in the country to facilitate and expedite their daily work.
