Govt clarifies on indecent garments
THE government clarified that people are supposed to put on decent garments in public places. The Communications Unit in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports made clarification following reports in some media outlets on the ban of miniskirts.
Assistant Director of Information Ms
Zamaradi Kawawa expressed concern that unknown person(s) had made-up the
news and posted it on a website called www.habari.go.tz for the purpose
of misleading the public.
She said the President Office (Public
Service Management) had through a circular number 3 of 2007, issued
guidelines of dress code for women and men in public offices.
She refuted reports circulating in the
social media and some foreign media houses claiming that Tanzania has
banned wearing of miniskirts. In separate statements issued by two
ministries yesterday, the government has dismissed as false the reports
and warned the people behind the fabrication for breaching the Cyber
Crime Act of 2015.
It purported to show the ministry as the
source of information, stating that stern legal actions including a
fine of 100,000/- will be charged to anyone found to be dressed in
miniskirts in public places starting January, this year.
“We take this opportunity to refute the
information; people behind the fabricated reports have committed cyber
crime,” read part of the statement.
Adding; “The government thus issues a
warning to the culprits for breaching the Cyber Crime Act of 2015 which
among others prohibits dissemination of false information.”
The ministry said it will take appropriate action against the people who fabricated the news report.
In a separate statement by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International
Cooperation, the government has taken issues with the Standard Newspaper
of Kenya, for spreading the lie.
“Unfortunately, the false report,
appearing in the daily newspaper’s ‘MondayBlues’ gossip page on 18th
January 2016, was taken for factual and circulated widely by other
outlets and the social media in Kenya and beyond.
“The ministry deplores the casual manner
in which the Standard handled the hearsay report and the reckless,
totally unwarranted attribution of the imaginary ‘ban’ to the Tanzania
Head of State,” it stated.
The statement stated further that while
the government of Tanzania appreciates the positive reviews of President
Magufuli’s performance in the Kenyan and international media, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes strong exception at irresponsible
distortions and misreporting, such as the one on miniskirts.
“There is no doubt that President
Magufuli and his government are strong proponents of decent dressing,
but the ministry wishes to put the record straight that the President
has not issued any ban on miniskirts for any reason,” the statement
stressed.
It added; “The ministry understands that
as a mainstream newspaper, the Standard is obliged to observe the
highest standards of journalism, central of which is respect for facts
and accurate reporting.
The ministry urged the Kenyan newspaper to retract the wrong information that it had fed to its readers.
