RSF concerned about reporter missing in Tanzania
| Publisher | Reporters Without Borders |
| Publication Date | 6 December 2017 |
| Cite as | Reporters Without Borders, RSF concerned about reporter missing in Tanzania, 6 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a2902ae4.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the Tanzanian police to speed up their investigation into the disappearance of Azori Gwanda, a newspaper reporter who went missing in the eastern Pwani region two weeks ago.
Gwanda is a correspondent of Tanzania's leading Swahili-language newspaper, Mwananchi, and its English-language version, The Citizen, which are published by the Nation Media Group.
In a statement issued by the publisher, his wife said that she last saw him on 21 November in a white Toyota Land Cruiser with two men, and that he seemed very frightened. Since then, no one has answered any of his three telephones.
In recent months, Gwanda had been investigating a series of mysterious murders of policemen and local officials by men on motorcycles in the Pwani region, which lies just to the east of the Dar es Salaam region
"We join the Nation Media Group in calling on the police to step up the investigation and do everything possible to locate this journalist," RSF said. "The conditions in which the media operate in Tanzania have worsened, partly because of the government's behaviour, and ensuring that this kind of attack does not go unpunished is essential to avoid undermining journalism as whole."
