Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.
DarMpya media prohibited from publishing over licensing violations claims
Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) on Wednesday prohibited online media outlet DarMpya from publishing content online, citing the outlet’s alleged failure to renew its publishing license as required by regulations governing online content in Tanzania.
TCRA Executive Director Dr Jabir Bakari said in a statement that the decision followed an inspection of DarMpya’s office where a team from the regulator’s office found out that the outlet’s publishing license had expired since 2021 but it continued to publish in violation of Regulation 4(1) of the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations 2022.
The section reads that “A person shall not provide online media service without obtaining a license from the Authority.”
TRCA’s inspection of DarMpya’s office followed what Dr Bakari described as “complaints” the regulator received by undisclosed people over the outlet’s coverage of the June 17th demonstration outside the Kenyan High Commission in Dar es Salaam by people who described themselves as members of the Maasai community living in Dar es Salaam.
They were protesting what they termed the government of Kenya’s interference in the ongoing tug-of-war between the government of Tanzania and the indigenous people of Ngorongoro. The government wants people there to ‘relocate’ to Handeni, Tanga to preserve the World Heritage Centre from destruction but natives are protesting such a decision.
TCRA did not say exactly what these complaints against DarMpya were and what specific coverage about the demonstrations were these complaints directed at. DarMpya published a number of statements about the demonstrations on its Twitter account and it is hard to know what specific statement attracted the regulator’s attention.
In its statement to its readers on Wednesday, the outlet said it has already started a process to renew its license and “we will be back online as soon as TCRA is done with renewing our license.”
WHO applauds Tanzania’s deployment of data tools to curb poliovirus
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Wednesday that without Open Data Kit (ODK) tools deployed by the government of Tanzania to curb the poliovirus, “it would have been way harder to get the early alert we just received,” according to Sally Tettey Emmanuel, a WHO Field Epidemiologist on an Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) in Tanzania.
Tanzania launched mass vaccination drives in the regions bordering Malawi before expanding across the country to reach all eligible children with the crucial dose. It has already carried out two rounds of polio vaccination.
On June 9, 2022, the WHO announced that Tanzania completed the second round of supplemental polio vaccination, reaching a total of 12,131,049 children against a target of 10,295,316, equivalent to 117.8 per cent.
WHO said Wednesday that reliable data is crucial for effective disease surveillance and outbreak response. In Tanzania, the use of Open Data Kit (ODK) tools is accelerating response to alerts of potential polio cases and helping to curb the virus, the WHO said.
WHO described ODK tool as “a fast and effective mobile application” that has improved data collection and public health response in the country.
Emmanuel explains how he acted on a recent alert about symptoms of paralysis observed in a child.
“I called the vaccinator that observed the case and headed to the field to conduct the appropriate investigation and sample collection to validate the acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) within 24 hours,” Emmanuel says.
AFP is defined by the acute onset of weakness or paralysis with reduced muscle tone in children. There are many infectious and non-infectious causes of AFP. Polio, caused by wild poliovirus (the naturally circulating strain) is one cause of AFP, and so early detection of AFP is critical in containing a potential outbreak.
ODK is a simple mobile application that provides software and standards for field electronic data collection. Through a simple editable form, independent monitors, vaccinators, supervisors and health workers can not only plan but also evaluate the quality of a vaccination campaign by logging data and key observations in the forms.
Australian-based OreCorp kicks off next round of drilling at Nyanzaga, Mwanza
Australian-based mineral company OreCorp is preparing for further drilling at its Nyanzaga gold project in Mwanza, The Market Herald reported Wednesday.
A drilling campaign across the project area will consist of reverse circulation drilling at the Kilimani deposit, diamond drilling west of the Nyanzaga deposit and air-core drilling to the west and northwest of the special mining licence area, the website reported.
Mineralisation at Kilimani is said to be hosted within oxidised zones of a 50 to 150-metre thick sequence of mineralisation, according to the report. It is also structurally controlled by a fault zone which acts as a conduit feeder zone.
A total of 15 drill holes are planned at Kilimani, covering around 3260 metres to test the deep feeder structures. Through this work, OreCorp is hoping to gain a better understanding of the geology and continuation of the mineralisation at Kilimani, according to The Market Herald.
The company said it is “very pleased” to be commencing further drilling at the project, and is working closely with the Government of Tanzania to progress the project to deliver the country’s first new “large scale gold mine in over a decade.”
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