By Chernoh Alpha M. Bah
The facade of press freedom in Tanzania was exposed on Wednesday November 7 following the arrest of two journalists and press freedom campaigners, Angela Quintal and Muthoki Mumo of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Quintal and Mumo were detained yesterday at their hotel in Dar es Salaam by immigration and security officials, taken to an unknown location, and interrogated about their work. They were allowed back to their hotel after several hours of questioning. Their passports were seized and only returned midday on Thursday. During their detention, Quintal and Mumo’s phones and computers were also seized. While they were detained, a false tweet saying they had been released was sent from Quintal’s personal Twitter account and repeated attempts were made to access Quintal’s email. The two CPJ staff members have now safely left Tanzania.

Angela Quintal is CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, while Muthoki Mumo is CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative. The two journalists traveled to Tanzania to understand the challenges facing the Tanzanian press and to inform the global public about the state of press freedom in the country. Their detention reveals Tanzanian authorities ongoing crackdown against a free press since president John Magufuli assumed power. CPJ’s Executive Director Joel Simon says the detention of Quintal and Mumo made the mission of the two journalists much easier. “It is now abundantly clear to anyone who followed the latest developments that Tanzanian journalists work in a climate of fear of intimidation,” he says, while calling on Tanzanian government officials to allow journalists to work freely without interference. Simon disclosed that Angela Quintal and Muthoki Mumo were released only following intervention from the South African and Kenyan governments.