The government of Tanzania on Thursday banned a weekly newspaper from publication for running stories with the intention of "inciting public hatred" against the president and contributing to misunderstandings among people in the country.

Nape Nnauye, Minister for Information, Arts, Culture and Sports, said in a statement that the newspaper called Mseto, a Kiswahili word for "mixture", carried a story in its weekly edition of Aug. 4 titled "Minister angers President John Pombe Magufuli."

The newspaper reported that former Acting Managing Director of State Mining Corporation, who is currently serving as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, Edwin Ngonyani, was reported to have received financial support from foreign businesspersons for election campaigns in 2015.

According to the newspaper, some of the funds were used by President Magufuli during his presidential election campaigns.

Ngonyani refuted the story, saying he considered it to be seditious, and it was aimed at creating misunderstandings or conflicts between him and the President.

"The newspaper has violated the Newspaper Act of 1976," said Nnauye, adding that the newspaper is banned to engage in any means of publication including the online publication for at least 36 months.

In July this year, the government of Tanzania said it had revoked registration of 473 newspapers after owners failed to publish them for three consecutive years.

Tanzania has a total of 881 registered newspapers and magazines.

Source : XINHUA