Wasafi TV has been banned by the Tanzanian Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) for six months over allegedly violating broadcast regulations.
According to TCRA, the decision was agreed upon by both parties after a meeting with the TV station management.
TCRA Acting Director Johannes Kalungule disclosed that the offence was committed on January 1 2020 when the station aired Singer Gigy Money dancing at the Tumewesha festival while dressed scantily.
This happens only three months after Wasafi radio was also banned for seven days effective September 12, 2020.
According to then TCRA Director James Kilaba, the ban was as a result of violating communication regulations and airing offensive language on August 1, 2020, and August 4, 2020, on two programs, “Switch” and “Mashamsham”
Speaking at a news conference in Dar es Salaam, TCRA’s acting director Johannes Kalungule said the offence that led to the ban was committed on January 1, where the station televised live singer and socialite Gigy Money dancing almost nude.
Kalungule said this was against the communication and broadcasting regulations and therefore required to stop broadcasting with immediate effect and issue a public apology
He said that should the station fail to observe the directive, further legal measures will be taken against the station.
According to him the two parties had met before the decision was arrived at.
In September 2020, the authority another related station that is also owned by Bongo Flava star Diamond Platnumz was suspended for Seven days for violating of Communication regulations and airing offensive content.
In a statement released hours after the ban, Wasafi FM said “In line with the TCRA directive, the management of Wasafi FM would like to apologise to TCRA and Tanzanians for using inappropriate language in our shows ‘Switch’ and ‘Mashamsham’ in violation of the communications act. We humbly accept the penalty from TCRA and sincerely apologize. We will also be going off-air until September 18.”
Clouds FM ban
On August 27 2020, Clouds FM and Clouds TV suffered a similar fate after the TCRA suspended them for seven days for allegedly violating election coverage. The TCRA said that the two sister stations were suspended for announcing the outcome of party nominations without approval from the National Electoral Commission (NEC) in breach of the Political Party Elections Broadcast Act of 2015.
