The Tanzania Communications Authority [TCRA] has said it is in the process of reviewing license fees and its regulations that apply to media outlets and journalists so that they can reduce these costs and make changes to the regulations as they have been requesting for a long time.
TCRA Director, Mr. Jabiri Kuwe Bakari said yesterday at a working session held at the PSSSF hall in Dar es Salaam between TCRA and online journalists where he said the government through TCRA has heard the cries of the media and journalists that is why it has agreed to review license fees and reduce them along with changes to regulations, laws and policies.
He said the biggest cry was the high cost of license fees and many regulations that are oppressing journalists and their outlets so we have decided to work on this issue.
He said that to show that the government is serious about the matter, he instructed journalists to propose four names of their members who will join TCRA officials to review the fees and regulations and suggest what changes they want to see so that the government can make the right decisions that will benefit both parties.
“Here is TBN and JUMIKITA, now you yourselves choose two members from each side to join our experts to review the fees and regulations and then make recommendations that the government will decide on”, said TCRA Director, Mr. Bakari
The Chairman of Tanzania Bloggers Network [TBN], Mr. Beda Msimbe while presenting some of the complaints said that Tanzania’s license fees are very high compared to neighboring countries and even internationally so he requested that they be reduced or completely abolished and instead there should be only registration fees so that many young people with a journalism career can be self-employed.
The Chairman of the Tanzania Online Journalists Association (JUMIKITA), Shaabani Matwebe, while submitting the complaint, said they are requesting the government to open the social media platforms of Twitter which is currently [x] and Tik Tok, as these platforms help journalists earn an income.
He said another issue they are requesting TCRA through the government to help them communicate with some of the platforms to start paying content creators as they do in other countries and Tanzania so that content creators on the platforms can also be paid.
He said that if there are a few disturbing accounts, they should be reported to the perpetrators of these platforms so that they can be individually closed as Instagram did for activist, Ms. Mange Kimambi, rather than closing all Tanzanians when the perpetrators are only a few.
Other complaints are related to not getting work in the NeST system and the high taxes of the Tanzania Revenue Authority [TRA] where journalists have complained that they are being assessed high taxes compared to the income they earn, so they have requested TRA to review and monitor these taxes.
However, Mr. Bakari said that these institutions are under the government, they will contact them so that they can organize a special session with the journalists so that they can explain their challenges directly to those departments because TCRA is difficult to help in that regard.
At the session, the journalists were represented by online journalists, the Tanzania Online Journalists Association (JUMIKITA) and the Tanzania Bloggers Network [TBN].
