It’s a big wrap for Wasafi TV. Diamond’s owned TV station has been slapped with a 6 month ban by the Tanzania communication regulatory Authority (TCRA).
The suspention is due to an alleged violation of broadcasting regulations during the Tumewasha festival.
Speaking at a news conference in Dar es Salaam, TCRA’s acting director Johannes Kalungule said the offense that led to the ban was committed on January 1, where the station televised live singer and socialite Gigy Money dancing while dressed inappropriately.
Kalunge said that the move contravened broadcast regulations and that the station was ordered off air and instructed to issue a public apology.
He added that should the station fail to observe the directive, further legal measures will be taken against them. He stated that the two parties had met before the decision was made.
This comes after just three months ago, their other station Wasafi FM was banned for seven days effective September 12. The ban, announced on September 11 by TCRA was as a result of violating communication regulations and airing offensive language.
Then TCRA director James Kilaba told the press that station allegedly committed the infringement on August 1 and August 4 2020 on two programs, ‘Switch’ and ‘Mashamsham’. He alleged that the presenters aired insulting language, contrary to licensing regulations.
“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.”
The ban was later lifted after they complied with the law. This new suspension has brought a lot of scrutiny to the Wasafi label. They have yet to respond.
The TCRA is known to ban stations for various issues. On August 27 2020, Clouds FM and Clouds TV were suspended 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.
