President of Tanzania warns newspapers over critical articles

The President of Tanzania, John Magufuli on Friday issued out a strict warning to Newspaper organisations over critical articles written against his government. This comes after two privately-owned newspapers published articles criticising Magufuli's handling of the economy and some governance issues in the country.

Speaking at a rally which held at the Northwestern town of Shinyanga, he said:

'We will not allow Tanzania to be a dump yard for inciting (newspaper) content. This will not happen under my administration.

'Whenever you read them, they are full of inciting content ... their days are numbered.' he added.

However, Government officials believe he was likely referring to one English daily and another Swahili daily owned by a privately-owned media organisation.

In November 2016, the president signed into law a bill that gives officials powers to shut down media organisations that violate their licenses by confiscating printing machines.