We disagree, Tanzania’s Govt. agency tells Mutua over ‘Tetema’ ban

The Tanzanian arts board, BASATA, has faulted the Kenya film board boss, Dr Ezekiel Mutua, for banning popular music track, Tetema, sang by Diamond Platnumz and Rayvanny.

On Tuesday, August 27, Mutua announced the ban on Tetema, saying the song’s lyrics are “too dirty” to be consumed by the general public, and, therefore, the hit-track should only be limited to where “adults are found”, including bars and nightclubs.

“It is embarrassing to see even national leaders singing and dancing to the obscenity in public. The lyrics are dirty and not suitable for public consumption, especially children,” Mutua said on Twitter Tuesday.

"Moving forward, the song should not be performed live or broadcast anywhere within the Republic of Kenya," he ordered.

And now, BASATA, which is Tanzania’s arts and music regulator, said the reason they haven’t prohibited Tetema from public consumption is because the song adhered to all the moral and legal expectations.

“We have been keenly following on artistes’ works in Tanzania. Many a time, we have summoned those who we thought had breached the BASATA guidelines on appropriate music production. We have even blocked several songs from being played on our media platforms.

"But, for Tetema, we found nothing wrong with it, including the lyrics and the music video. I do not know which criteria Kenya’s Ezekiel Mutua used to ban the song from general consumption,” BASATA’s Executive Secretary, Godfrey Mngereza, told Mwananchi newspaper on Wednesday, August 28.

Tetema, which was uploaded to YouTube on February 6, 2019, has thus far amassed 27.5 million views on the video-sharing platform.

It is one of the popular songs done jointly by Diamond and Rayvanny, who are signed under Diamond’s WCB record label.

Kenya’s Mutua also banned another popular club-banger, Wamlambez, saying the song contains lyrics that intend to corrupt minors’ morals.