The Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam found three people, including a former Managing Editor of Mwananchi Communication Limited (MCL), Theophil Makunga, with cases to answer on a sedition litigation they are facing.
Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court
Other accused persons are the former Managing Editor of Tanzania Daima, Absalom Kibanda, and Samson Mwigamba, a journalist.
They are charged with printing and publishing a seditious article in a Kiswahili tabloid. Principal Resident Magistrate Warialwande Lema ruled that the prosecution, led by Senior State Attorney Tumaini Kweka, had established a prima facie case against them after calling five witnesses.
She said that the evidence tendered was sufficient enough to require the accused persons to be called upon to make their defence testimony against the charges.
Following the ruling, the court ordered the accused persons to start giving their respective defence on September 3, this year.
The prosecution is alleging in the trial that on November 30 last year, the three accused persons, using their profession and work roles, publish ed and printed a seditious publication through Tanzania Daima newspaper.
The article written by Mwigamba titled “Waraka maalum kwa askari wote” literally meaning, “Special letter to all security forces” and was read and approved by Kibanda before being passed on for printing.
By FAUSTINE KAPAMA, Tanzania Daily News
