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Govt hosts editors` meet on Bush visit
2008-02-06 09:12:38
By Gadiosa Lamtey
Editors from different media outlets met yesterday in Dar es Salaam ahead of US President George Bush`s visit to the country mid this month.
At the meeting, organised by the Tanzania Information Services (Maelezo), the editors discussed, among other things, issues pertaining to news coverage during the visit.
Addressing them, Information director Kassim Mpenda reminded of punctuality so that complete and extensive reports could be filed from selected events.
``If a journalist arrives late s/he will not be allowed to get in,`` cautioned the Maelezo boss, urging media people to dress decently.
He said that Bush would visit Dar es Salaam and Arusha, and in total would spent almost four days in the country.
``For us it is a big event because the world will know Bush is visiting Africa, including Tanzania, for the first time,`` Mpenda added.
Referring to a tentative timetable issued by the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, he said that in Dar es Salaam Bush would visit five selected sites, while in Arusha he would visit three.
US Embassy Public Affairs Officer Jeffery Salaiz promised editors that his embassy would work alongside with the editors in facilitating good coverage during the visit.
Bush will visit the country mid this month as part of a five-nation tour of Africa.
Bush, looking to boost bilateral relations with Tanzania and other emerging democracies, will also visit Liberia, Rwanda, Ghana and Benin.
The tour, due to last for six days, would commence on February 15, this year.
It will, among other things, highlight Washington\'s commitment to pushing forward HIV/Aids and Malaria initiatives.
For instance, Tanzania is to receive USD699m from the Millennium Challenge Corporation to finance a number of projects in the country.
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