The Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC) was established
by 11 press clubs from Tanzania mainland in a meeting held in Arusha September
20th - 21st 1996. That meeting was organized by Arusha Press Club. All
activities which led to the formation of UTPC were funded by the American
Embassy. At this juncture, let me on behalf of all press clubs in the
country thank the US embassy for the support they extended to us leading
to the formation of this prestigious and important body.
During that meeting the following office bearers
were elected:-
1. Danford Mpumilwa : Chairperson
2. Jonas Mwasumbi : Vice Chairperson
3. William Lobulu : Executive Secretary
4. Nathan Lwehabura : Assistant Executive Secretary
5. Peter Makorongo : Treasurer
The following were elected as members of the Board
of Trustees:-
1. Karim Hirji
2. Dr. Penina Mlama
3. Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe
The former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi was elected
as the Patron of UTPC.
Press Clubs which participated in the founding of
UTPC were from:-
Immediately, after the establishment of UTPC it
went into a deep comma for the period of approximately 4 years. The Interim
Committee which was charged with the task of reviving UTPC did not find
any report or document, which can prove that the founding leaders conducted
any activity. There is a possibility that they did some activities but
unfortunately we were not availed with any information regarding the same.
The deep sleep of UTPC resulted into the collapse
of many press clubs, including Arusha Press Club itself, which was the
secretariat of UTPC. Other press clubs were weaken and could not provide
any service to their members and the general public. Mwanza Press Club
tried several times to contact the UTPC founding leaders on the issues
of reviving it but they were met by the deaf ears. The death of UTPC was
a very sad experience in the history of press clubs development and their
members residing in upcountry regions.
2. THE INTERIM COMMITTEE:
Leaders of press clubs from 17 regions from Tanzania
Mainland and 2 from Tanzania Isle met in Mwanza from 13th - 14th May,
2002 to strategize on how to improve press clubs in the country. The meeting
was sponsored by SIDA and organized by the Media Council of Tanzania.
The development of UTPC was discussed at length.
Leaders of press clubs from 19 regions, including the 11 founding members
of UTPC were surprised by the decision of the UTPC founding leaders, to
keep so silent without giving any feedback to members on the progress/problems
affecting UTPC development.
It was also noted with concern that, the founding
leaders of UTPC resigned and their resignation was reported on the media.
The meeting unanimously resolved to elect an Interim
Committee which was tasked with the responsibility of reviving UTPC. The
following people were elected:-
1. Jonas Mwasumbi from Mbeya : Interim President
2. Abubakar Karsan from Mwanza : Interim Secretary
3. Daniel Mjema from Kilimanjaro : Interim Treasurer
4. Musa Homera from Ruvuma : Member
5. Hassan Hashim from Tanga : Member
The Interim Committee (IC) was charged with the
following duties:-
* To review the UTPC Constitution with the aim
of improving it.
* To ascertain and identify UTPC assets and liabilities and other relevant
documents.
* To recruit more members
* To develop a common Developmental Strategies (DS) for all press clubs
* To organize an extraordinary meeting to adopt the (DS) and elect UTPC
leaders.
The IC was given 3 months to accomplish the work
and report to the extraordinary meeting. The work should have been completed
on 15th August, 2002, but unfortunately the IC could not convene the Extraordinary
Meeting at the end of the period given due to funding problems. It was
not easy to get donors who could fund our meeting.
OBJECTIVES:
i). To facilitate the operations of the regional
press clubs in
Tanzania
ii). To provide services to regional press clubs
iii). To organize and coordinate activities of the
press clubs
iv). To render services designed to ensure efficiency
and
uniformity in the conduct of the business of its member clubs, standardizing
their operational setup etc.
v). To represent member clubs in collective bargaining
vi). To provide consultative services to member
clubs.
vii). To print, publish and circulate any newspaper
or newsletter
or any other publication designed to foster or increase interest in the
objects of the member clubs.
viii). To seek to broaden the knowledge of the club
members by
identifying training needs, coordinate training, research, funding and
scholarships, conduct seminars, workshops and organize exchange programs
for member clubs.
ix). To establish links with other organizations
and societies
involved in marshalling press freedom, fight against corruption, poverty,
HIV /Aids pandemic, human rights and related matters.
x). To do any other thing which in its opinion is
connected with
or ancillary to the above enumerated objects and aims.
xi). To promote, and maintain codes of ethics for
media
professionals.
xii). To mobilize its members in fighting against
laws and
regulations that infringe on the freedom of the press
xiii). To mediate and resolve problems and conflicts
of member
press clubs.
