The media

Frequently unhappy with the criticism which he received in the Tanzanian press, Nyerere took steps to control the media. What had moved him to act was his anger at the suggestion in one journal that his notion of democracy under Ujamaa was really a cover for the abolition of free speech (see Source Y).

SOURCE Y

According to Source Y what threat to democracy does the removal of the two-party system represent?

Excerpt from an editorial by Frene Ginwala, in Spearhead, February, 1963, quoted in Africa: a Modern History by Guy Arnold, published by Atlantic Books, London, UK, 2005, pp. 133-34.

President Nyerere emphasizes the need for discussion as a fundamental characteristic of democracy. He implies that with the removal of two-party disciplines there will be an immediate sprouting of self-criticism and discussion. This may be true in so far as parliament and its members are concerned, but what of the rest of society? Can one believe there will be an atmosphere conducive to the expression of dissent from the norm?

President Nyerere himself says that opposition parties 'tend to be regarded as traitors to the majority of our people'. Might this not also apply to those who in any way differ from official policy? There is in fact an unfortunate tendency, especially among TANU officials, to regard any criticism of the Party, especially from a non-official, as tantamount to treason.

The editor of the journal in question, Spearhead, which was published in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital, was Frene Ginwala, an Asian South African. The journal represented her strong libertarian views. As an ANC

Member, she had already gained a reputation for her stern criticisms of the leaders of other African states who had adopted authoritarian methods. Nyerere considered her dangerous and ordered that she be treated as a 'prohibited immigrant'. Three months after her editorial had appeared, she was formally deported from Tanzania. The ANC in South Africa complained strongly about her arbitrary treatment, but the reaction in Nyerere's own country was muted and journalists declined to give her sustained support.

Unwilling to be subjected to attacks from the national or foreign press, the government took further steps to limit its freedom. Rather than attack the press after it had made its criticism, the method employed was to restrict what was written before it appeared. This was done by requiring that all journalists were licensed by the government before they were allowed to work. This gave government officials the power to censor copy of which they disapproved.