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Mwananchi Communications

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Mwananchi Communications
Founded1999
Headquarters56MC+98 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
ParentNation Media Group

Mwananchi Communications Ltd is a company based in Tanzania.[1] Mwananchi Communications Ltd, engages in the print media

and digital media, and is the publisher of Tanzanian daily newspaper, Mwananchi (in Swahili), and others such as The Citizen, Sunday Citizen, Mwananchi Jumapili, Mwananchi Scoop and Mwanaspoti.

The executive editor is Victor Mushi and the Mwananchi daily managing editor is Joseph Nyabukika. Michael Momburi heads Mwanaspoti in Tanzania and Kenya. Mpoki Thomson is the Managing Editor of The Citizen Daily and Sunday Citizen. Upon his appointment to the Managing Editor role in January 2021, he became the youngest editor to hold such a position at 28 years old.

Bakari Machumu, the Managing Director of the company.

Mwananchi Communications Limited was established in May 1999 by Ambassador Ferdinand Ruhinda[2] as Media Communications Ltd. But in April 2001, a new company was formed—Mwananchi Communications Ltd. In the very same year Mwananchi Communications Ltd was acquired[3][4] by the Nation Media Group[5][6] (NMG),[7] which is based in Nairobi, Kenya.[8]

Location

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Nation Center, headquarters of the Nation Media Group, the parent company of Mwananchi Communications Ltd.

It is headquartered at Plot No. 34/35 Tabata Relini[9] on Mandela Road, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.[10] It is part of the Nation Media Group, a publicly listed company, quoted on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

History

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Mwananchi Communications Ltd. was founded in 1999 when Hon. Ferdinand Ruhinda[2] started a communications company known as Media Communications Ltd, which saw an important need to introduce a daily Swahili paper Mwananchi registered on April 20, 2000. On May 27, 2000, the first copy of Mwananchi was launched. It was a 12-page newspaper retailing at Sh150. The market at the time was not as fragmented as it is now, as there were only three mainstream daily Swahili newspapers in the market as opposed to the eight mainstream daily Swahili papers today. This paper has since had continuous improvement for format and presentation that has seen its leadership position in the market sustained.

Shortly after the launch of Mwananchi, a biweekly sports newspaper Mwanaspoti was launched on February 12, 2001. It was a 12-page sports paper retailing at Sh100.

In April 2001, two and a half years after launching the products, the role of publishing was handed over from Media Communications to a newly registered publishing company, Mwananchi Communications Ltd. In December 2002, Nation Media Group of Kenya purchased[5] controlling interests in the company.

Having registered The Citizen with Tanzania Information Services (Maelezo) on March 2, 2001, the paper was only fully launched and published on September 16, 2004, to become the fifth English daily newspaper in the market.

The Company's publications were printed by contract until 2005, when it acquired a secondhand printing press from Australia.

In 2020 it was ordered by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority to suspend the online publication of Mwananchi for six months and pay a fine of 5 million shilling for publishing "misleading information that caused confusion in the community".[11] Two of its employees were arrested and charged accused of breaching the cybercrimes act of 2015.[12]

On 3 October 2024, the Tanzania Communications Authority imposed a 30-day suspension on The Citizen and Mwananchi, citing violations of the Electronics and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2020.[13] The suspension followed the publication of a social media clip by The Citizen, which highlighted increasing cases of abductions and disappearances in Tanzania. The media regulator stated that the content "threatens and is likely to affect and harm national unity and social peace.[14]

Newspapers

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English language newspapers
  • The Citizen – An independent English newspaper in Tanzania
  • The Citizen on Sunday – The Sunday edition of The Citizen
Swahili-language newspapers
  • Mwananchi – Leading daily newspaper in Tanzania
  • Mwanaspoti – A biweekly sports and entertainment newspaper
  • Mwanaspoti Kenya - Kenya’s first and leading Kiswahili sports newspaper
  • Mwananchi Jumapili – The Sunday edition of Mwananchi newspaper
  • Mwananchi Scoop - Swanglish digital magazine for youth that covers stories on entertainment and sports, stories, gossip, career and skills, technology, health, fashion and money management

Magazines

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Newsstand
English language magazines
  • Your Health – a health magazine published every Monday and carried in The Citizen
  • Political Platform – a political review magazine published every Wednesday and carried in The Citizen
  • Success – an education review magazine published every Monday and carried in The Citizen
  • The Beat – a magazine focusing on entertainment and showbiz issues published every Friday and carried in The Citizen
  • Business Week – a business magazine published every Thursday and carried in The Citizen
  • Woman – a woman's magazine published every Saturday and carried in The Citizen
  • Sound Living - A family magazine that features uplifting stories that happen in society
Swahili-language magazines
  • SpotiMikiki – a sports magazine published every Monday and carried in Mwananchi
  • Siasa – focuses on analysis of the recent political events and investigative stories; a pullout published every Tuesday and carried in Mwananchi
  • Maarifa – a platform for sharing among students and teachers. It is a pullout published every Wednesday and carried in Mwananchi
  • Uchumi – a magazine that focuses on business news, events, and economic matters, it is published every Thursday and carried in Mwananchi
  • Jungukuu – a society issues magazine published every Friday and carried in Mwananchi
  • Starehe – a sports magazine published every Saturday and carried in Mwananchi
  • Johari – a special pull-out magazine targeted at the female reader, with articles on fashion, decor, beauty, short stories, parenting advice etc., published every Sunday and carried in Mwananchi Jumapili

References

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  1. ^ [1] [dead link]
  2. ^ a b "Rostam Aziz of New Habari Corporation: The facts". Jamiiforums.com. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  3. ^ "Nation Media Group moves into Tanzanian market - AP Worldstream | HighBeam Research". Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  4. ^ "ICT Hall of Fame • Wilfred Kiboro". Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  5. ^ a b Accessmylibrary.com http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-95414770/kenya-nation-media-group.html. Retrieved April 16, 2014. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ [2] Archived June 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ [3][dead link]
  8. ^ "Nation Media Group Limited - Company Snapshot". www.alacrastore.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  9. ^ "Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!". wikimapia.org. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  10. ^ "Mwananchi Communications Ltd - Dar es Salaam - Media/Nieuws/Publicaties". Facebook. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  11. ^ "TCRA suspends Mwananchi's online license for six months". The Citizen. April 17, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "News: Wafanyakazi 2 wa gazeti la Mwananchi mbaroni kwa upotoshaji". Muakilishi (in Swahili). May 2, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  13. ^ "Public Notice". The Citizen. October 3, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  14. ^ "Tanzania's news sites banned over animation deemed critical of Samia Suluhu Hassan". www.bbc.com. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
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