Prepared by Abubakar Kar san E xe c utive Dir e c tor Union - PDF document

ACP CONGRE SS OF PRE SS CL UBS 2016 KIGAL I RWANDA 20 – 22 OCT OBE R, 2016 T HE E ST ABL ISHME NT OF PRE SS CL UBS AND IT S UNION IN T ANZANIA Prepared by Abubakar Kar san E xe c utive Dir e c tor Union of T anzania Pr e ss Clubs Bale wa Road, Isamilo Ar e a P.O. Bo x 314 T e l: +255 28 2540243 F a x: +255 28 2502188 Mo b : 255 0767-399994/ 0788-399995 E -ma il: utpc tz@ ya ho o .c o .uk/ utpc @ utpc .o r.tz We b site : www.utpc .o r.tz

1. INT R ODUCT ION 1.1. Br ie f Histor y T he Unio n o f T a nza nia Pre ss Club s (UT PC) wa s e sta b lishe d b y 12 pre ss c lub s, unde r the suppo rt o f the Unite d Sta te s o f I nfo rma tio n Se rvic e (USIS), in 1996. It wa s re g iste re d in 1997 a nd g ive n a Ce rtific a te o f re g istra tio n No . SO 8976. 1.2. Vision A de mo c ra tic T a nza nia fully e mb ra c ing to a fre e , inde pe nde nt a nd ro b ust me dia 1.3. Mission T o c re a te a n e nviro nme nt tha t e na b le s stro ng e ffic ie nt a nd e ffe c tive Pre ss Club s in T a nza nia whic h e ve ntua lly c o ntrib ute to wa rds a de mo c ra tic a nd just so c ie ty. 1.4. Obje c tive s i) T o fa c ilita te the o pe ra tio ns o f the Pre ss Club s to e nsure e ffic ie nc y a nd unifo rmity in the c o nd uc t o f the b usine ss o f its me mb e r pre ss c lub s b y ha rmo nizing the ir o p e ra tio na l se t up; ii) T o re pre se nt me mb e r c lub s in c o lle c tive b a rg a ining ; iii) T o b uild the c a pa c ity a nd a b ility o f ind ivid ual jo urnalists, who a re me mb e rs o f pre ss c lub s thro ug h tra ining , re se a rc h, stud y to urs a nd me e ting s; iv) T o pro mo te a nd ma inta in c o d e o f e thic s fo r me d ia pra c titio ne rs in pro mo ting e thic a l re po rta g e ; v) T o print a nd publish ne wsle tte rs o r a ny o the r public a tio n a nd e sta b lish a ny e le c tro nic me d ia , with the a im o f fo ste ring the o b je c ts o f the Unio n a nd tha t o f the me mb e r pre ss c lub s; vi) T o lia ise with o the r o rg a niza tio ns (lo c al a nd inte rna tio na l), invo lve d in ma rshalling pre ss fre e d o m, fig ht a g a inst c o rrup tio n, p o ve rty HIV a nd AI DS, vio la tio n o f huma n rig hts a nd re la te d ma tte rs; vii) T o mo b ilize Pre ss Club s me mb e rs, me d ia a nd no n-me d ia o rg a niza tio ns a nd the pub lic , a g a inst pra c tic e s, re g ula tio ns a nd laws tha t infring e o n the fre e d o m o f the pre ss; viii) T o me d ia te a nd re so lve d ispute s a nd c o nflic ts o f me mb e rs pre ss c lub s; ix) T o c o nd uc t re se a rc h with the a im o f pro mo ting me d ia ’ s ro le in c a ta lysing d e ve lo pme nt; x) T o pro vid e a ny o the r se rvic e s tha t is no t inc lud e d in this Co nstitutio n. 1.5. Gove r na nc e T he g o ve rna nc e struc ture o f the Unio n is b a se d o n the fo llo wing struc ture s:- 1.5.1. Me mbe r s Ge ne r al Me e ting T his is supre me po lic y ma king b o d y c o mprising o f thre e (3) le a de rs fro m all 27 pre ss c lub s. It me e ts e ve ry ye a r a nd a t e ve ry thre e (3) ye a rs e le c ts a ne w Bo a rd o f Dire c to rs. 2

1.5.2. T he Boar d of Dir e c tor s T his is a supe rviso ry b o d y, whic h o ve rse e ns the Se c re ta ria t o n the imple me nta tio n o f a c tivitie s. It is c o mprise d o f:- • De o Nso ko lo : Pre sid e nt • Ja ne Miha nji : Vic e Pre sid e nt • Ab d alla h Ab d ulra hma n Mfa ume : Me mb e r • Ha b e l Chid a wali : Me mb e r • Ste lla Ib e ng we : Me mb e r • Salma Ab dul : Me mb e r • Anna Ma ka ng e : Me mb e r • And re w K uc ho njo ma : Me mb e r • F ra nk L e o na rd : Me mb e r • Pe nd o Mwa kye mb e : Me mb e r T o b e a Bo a rd me mb e r yo u must b e a pre ss c lub le a d e r in the fo llo wing c a te g o rie s: a Cha ir, a Se c re ta ry Ge ne ra l o r a T re a sure r. 1.5.3. T he Se c r e tar iat T his is the imple me nta tio n b o d y, in c ha rg e o f the d a y to d a y o pe ra tio ns, c o mprising :- • Ab ub a ka r K a rsa n : E xe c utive Dire c to r • Ja c kso n Uiso : F ina nc e Offic e r • Vic to r Male ko : Pro g ra m Offic e r: T ra ining , Re se a rc h a nd Public a tio n • Hild a K ile o : Pro g ra m Offic e r: Pre ss Club s De ve lo pme nt a nd Administra tio n • Winfrid a Ma d e ni : Ac c o unta nt • Ma ry Ng o b o ko : Offic e Ma na g e me nt Se c re ta ry • Gra c e a na Mic ha e l : Offic e Assista nt • Ha ssa n Zub e ri : Drive r At the mo me nt, we a re in the pro c e ss o f e mplo ying a Pro c ure me nt o ffic e r a nd Pro g ra m o ffic e r: Re so urc e Mo b iliza tio n 2. PRE SS CL UBS Pre ss Club s a re a sso c ia tio ns b e lo ng ing to the jo urna lists who a re o pe ra ting fro m re g io ns. So fa r we ha ve o ur pre ss c lub s in all re g io ns in T a nza nia Ma inla nd a nd Za nzib a r. 3

3. WHY F ORM PRE SS CL UBS T he re we re spe c ific re a so ns a s to why we fo rme d pre ss c lub s. T he ma jo r re a so ns we re • Vast ge ogr aphic al ar e a Our c o untry is ve ry va st with 947,303km 2 . At tha t time the re we re 20 re g io ns, o f whic h a lo t o f a c tivitie s we re d o ne in the c a pita l Da r e s Sala am. • Mar ginalization of jour nalists ope r ating fr om r e gions. Altho ug h it wa s no t purpo se fully d o ne , jo urnalists o pe ra ting fro m the re g io ns we re no t invo lve d in tra ining o r a ny o the r a c tivitie s, c o mpa re d to tho se living in Da r e s Sala a m 4. COL L APSE OF UT PC AND PRE SS CL UBS UT PC c o lla pse d in 1997 d ue to la c k o f fund ing a fte r, USIS Dire c to r wa s tra nsfe rre d to a no the r c o untry a nd the ne w o ne re fuse d to suppo rt UT PC. Auto ma tic a lly the pre ss c lub s, e xc e pt tha t o f Mwa nza Pre ss Club . 5. WHY COL L APSE T he c o lla pse o f UT PC wa s c a use d b y its la c k o f visio n in its struc ture . Pre ss Club s c o lla pse d b e c a use the ir fo rma tio n wa s just fo r a me e ting po int fo r jo urna lists who a re just wa iting fo r the Big Unc le to c o me , to b ring tra ining . 6. PRE SS CL UBS RE ORGANIZE D I n 1998 o n my c a pa c ity a s the Cha ir o f Mwa nza Pre ss Club , I supe rvise d the lo ng jo urne y to re o rg a nize pre ss c lub s a nd UT PC. 6.1. Pr e ss Clubs’ r e sponsibilitie s • Pro mo ting pro fe ssio nalism to me mb e rs • Pro vid e so c ia l inte ra c tio n to me mb e rs • Pro vid e e c o no mic o ppo rtunitie s to me mb e rs • Co nd uc t a rb itra tio n b e twe e n jo urna lists a nd the ir sta ke ho ld e rs • Cre a te a wa re ne ss o n the rig ht to info rma tio n to the pub lic • Suppo rt re g io na l d e ve lo pme nt We b uilt Mwa nza Pre ss Club alo ng the ne w pre ss c lub s visio n to the po int, it wa s the b e st in the c o untry b y the ye a r 2000. Slo wly we ste e re d the re viva l o f pre ss c lub s in the c o untry. By the ye a r 2001 the re we re 19 pre ss c lub s. 7. PRE SS CL UBS SUPPORT PROJE CT I n the ye a r 2001, I a ppro a c he d the Swe d ish E mb a ssy in T a nza nia , with the pro po sa l Pre ss Club s suppo rt p ro je c t. T he e mb a ssy a g re e d to suppo rt us, thro ug h the MCT , fo r a t tha t time I wa s a me mb e r o f the Me d ia Co unc il o f T a nza nia . T he ma jo r c o mpo ne nts o f the pro je c ts we re :- • T ra ining to pre ss c lubs me mb e rs 4