This programme draws on the power of the media as a force for democratic accountability. A local newspaper, known as Kwanza Jamii Njombe (Community First) is used as a platform for innovative governance-related activities, including public expenditure tracking, community score-cards, extensive space for inclusive public debate, and investigative journalism.

 

The newspaper will focus initially on a single town and district - Njombe - with the goal of developing simple and effective tools to scrutinise local government, promote public debate and raise awareness of democratic rights and responsibilities. Later, the newspaper will expand to cover more districts, with local editions for each district including a combination of some content shared among all edition alongside locally-specific articles and comment.

 

This programme was launched in August 2010 by the Njombe District Commissioner, Mrs Sara Dumba, herself a former journalist, at a public event in Njombe. The launch included a performance by Mrisho Mpoto "Mjomba".

 

A dedicated Kwanza Jamii website for sharing the paper online is in development. In the meantime, low resolution versions of the full paper are available in pdf format below.