Norway is concerned about human rights in Tanzania
Norway is concerned about the human rights situation in Tanzania, which over the past 50 years has received more Norwegian assistance than any other country.
“We are concerned about the development of the human rights situation in Tanzania, including for the freedom of the press,” State Secretary Marianne Hagen (H) tells Bistandsaktuelt.
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Partner country since the sixties
Tanzania became a main Norwegian partner country in the 1960s and has since received close to NOK 19 billion in aid from Norway, according to an overview from Norad.
In 2018, the assistance amounted to almost NOK 400 million, and more than 40 per cent of this went through the country’s authorities.
Last week, one of the country’s leading journalists, Erick Kabendera, was arrested, charged with organized crime, money laundering and tax evasion. He works for the British Guardian and Economist, among others.
“On Thursday, another critical research journalist was arrested, and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry is following this development with concern,” Hagen informs.
“Human rights are on the agenda in the regular political consultations between Norway and Tanzania, taken up in political meetings and followed up by the embassy in Dar es Salaam,” she continues.
“We will also scale up support for independent human rights organizations. This is important for promoting democracy and human rights,” Hagen concludes.
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© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
Here is another misinformed government official portraying worsening human rights. What exactly is concerning Norway? The journalists? If so then, the Norwegian is getting it wrong possibly, it is just a learned behaviour following repeated complaints from very same people who enjoyed previous regimes through corruption. Is Norway aware that Journalists in this country were part of corrupt regime? Is Marianne aware that journalists received a lot of kickbacks from culprits for white washing them through media?
Soon after our currentPresident initiated a crusade against corruption, the Journalists were immediately up arms against the president. Most of them were concerned with their survival. Why should they collapse? They used to enjoy dubious adverts from the government then, it was house media mushrooming!
We Tanzanians know what is going on. We don’t need to be told. Can freedom of speech and human right guarantee a journalist to extend personal insult to the president of a country where he/she is a citizen claiming that is freedom of speech? Ms Marianne need to know that Majority of weak Tanzanians are more satisfied than during previous regime which seems to have satisfied her in relation to freedom of speech and human rights. Is this not a contradiction? Why should such good norms; human right and freedom of speech satisfy a Norwegian and not majority of Tanzanians? Now, the majority of Tanzanians are satisfied but Marianne, a Norwegian not satisfied.
Let us be correct. Tanzania is not Dar es Salaam where majority of corrupt noise makers are situated. Majority are in villages where people like Marianne never hear about them.
What Lucas Bartazari tries t defend is totally not true. Here in the country we have tgese people who are being paid to defend these dictators who are kidnapping and killing political critics and almost every one here knows it.
I believe a most corrupt person is the one who needs no critics. He carries millions of money in bags that are being carried by his aides and gives them to people as a token. Is this not a corruption?