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More NGOs rap govt over HakiElimu ban
2005-10-07 07:27:36
By Pacifique Nkeshimana
Southern Africa Human Rights Non-Governmental Organisations Network (SAHRINGON) said yesterday the government violated the constitution by banning HakiElimu from collecting and publishing information on the country’s education system.
Sahringon acting executive director Rehema Kerefu told reporters that the ban was unconstitutional as it violated the freedom of expression and access to information.
She said the minister had abused the constitution, which provides for every individual’s right to gather, receive and impart information.
’We as the network for the NGOs dealing with human rights in the Southern Africa, particularly in Tanzania, were shocked by the minister’s statement,’ she said.
Education and Culture Minister Joseph Mungai banned HakiElimu from researching and publishing information on schools and colleges, claiming that the NGO had given the ministry a bad image.
Kerefu said the government’s decision to ban HakiElimu from publishing researched information on education is a grave violation of human rights.
’We are aware that Mungai decided to ban HakiElimu from publishing researched data after the NGO made public an unflattering report on the three years of the project of MMEM in July,’she said.
She added that most of the officials in the country do not like to be corrected in their failures to realise the set targets and that was the case with Mungai.
’HakiElimu is the organisation established under the law. Its activities are executed in accordance with the law. It has a right to publish all documented data without fear or favour,’ she stressed.
She appealed to the government to lift the ban to enable HakiElimu to exercise its constitutional right.
Meanwhile, a lawyer with the Legal and Human Rights Centre, Harold Sungusiya, said yesterday that Mungai should be taken to court for breaching the country’s constitution.
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