Many journalists will miss Ombeni Sefue – and this is why…

However, I do know for certain that he played his role well in his own league when it came to relations with the media. So, before someone cries out ‘Songa amsafisha Sefue’ (Songa cleanses Sefue), note that this opinion piece is limited to the way the former CS treated journalists during his tenure at No. 1 Barack Obama Road in Dar es Salaam.

From where I sit, Ombeni Sefue was one of the coolest and most media-friendly servants the State House and our country have ever had. Reporters and editors routinely seeking information from big men and women occupying public offices understand very well what I mean by this. There are people in the civil service whose job – or so it seems – is to make other people’s jobs difficult, if not impossible.

They will invent all manner of excuses to make you fail. Unpicked calls: You make a call, no one picks it up; you send a text message, no response. You call again and again but in vain.

Because the story you are pursuing must be balanced with their voice, you wait for the whole day and, at the end of it, you have no story! This is why some journalists are forced to publish unbalanced pieces, often “justified” by carrying words “efforts to get a comment had failed by the time we went to press”.

Of course, no true editor will be comfortable with this kind of one-sided reporting. In most cases, this is a result of reluctant or slippery sources who will just not cooperate.

At the end of it all, gate-keepers are left with no choice but to run the story. I’m in a meeting: Some folks appear to be in a meeting every time you call. They pick up the phone but soon after you introduce the topic, they lower their voices and claim that they are in a meeting.

When you call back after an hour or two, as requested, the phone is not reachable. I once went to lunch outside our office premises and saw this public official I had been chasing for a whole month but to no avail.

He didn’t see me, though. Because he was with someone else, I gave him a call just to say Hi! – and remind of my request for information. But as soon as he picked up the phone, he lowered his voice and murmured: “I’m in a meeting in the boardroom, call me later.”

I went slowly from behind, tapped him in the shoulder, and asked: “How is the meeting” – and left. Bring official letter: Some will demand a letter with your company’s official letter head, even on a simple matter of balancing a news story that just can’t wait. But even if you comply, you can wait for the reply forever.

I once requested information from the government – in writing – with regard to the status of foreign investments in land, and waited for the reply for six months.

I made a follow-up with the communications department, and the officer in-charge told me the letter was lost. I handed them the copy I kept with me and waited for another six months, but still in vain. I finally ran the story without their voice. Empty promises: Other public officials have perfected the art and science of giving empty promises.

They will convincingly promise to get back to you “a few minutes from now because we need time to peruse documents and give an informed reply.” Any civilised person will understand that.

But it will be too late when you realise that you have been duped, as the phone will be endlessly not reachable until your deadline has elapsed. Leave questions: These fellows will kindly ask you to leave your questions, email address and phone number, with a promise that they are working on your queries and will contact you “soonest”.

But, believe you me, you will wait until Thy Kingdom come and nothing will be forthcoming. The confused: There are those who, thanks to their positions, are spokespersons but are allergic or hypersensitive to questions by reporters. These will avoid you like a leper! They will refer you to a junior fellow, who will easily say that they are not authorised to speak on the subject.

Or they will tell you that the subject matter falls under a different department or ministry, while that is a big lie. This is a group of the confused. But at times you wonder how some people got their jobs in the first place because they appear to know next to nothing about not only media relations but also the very issues to do with the jobs they are paid to do.

The arrogant: Other fellows are simply arrogant and disrespectful. They will interrogate you as to why you are interested in that “negative” story while there are so many “positive” things to write about. They will seek to know “who is using you and for what purpose” or if you are working with the opposition.

Such people appear to believe that behind every public interest story being pursued there is a cynical or malicious sponsor with some sinister agenda. At the end of the day, they won’t tell you anything of substance apart from wasting your time and frustrating you.

The angry: There is also this group which is very difficult to deal with. These folks are always angry and defensive and will find you guilty of misreporting by another journalist from your company or completely different media house. They are good at passing blanket judgment that “you journalists are this and that…” You are sure to get all manner of curses and insults from these fellows.

All these groups have perfected the art of standing between a journalist and the story. They impose bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy. They create unnecessary red tape.

Nothing is as frustrating for journalists as being denied that raw material – the information. There are people in the public service (and private sector too) who commonly see journalists as sadistic interlopers always out to spoil things. Interestingly, the hurdles are notoriously frequent when the story in question is bad PR on their side.

But when they want a positive story published, the same characters will kindly call and invite you for an in-depth interview in their office. They will even serve you tea and cashew nuts. Before the interview, they will “kindly” tell you how important the role of the media is in informing the public about the good work being done.

They will pretend to respect you, only when they need you. Hypocrites – and who was it that said they’re gonna pay for it someday?! If you ask me, Ambassador Ombeni Sefue was not one of them. He would surely pick up the phone any time one called.

He would listen, and then give the response calmly, without any of the emotionally charged outbursts and defensive harangues and pressure most other public officials are notorious for.

No matter how negative the story appeared to be, Sefue would always treat you with utmost respect. And if he was in a meeting, he would send a text message informing you of the situation. “In a meeting, will call back”, he would write.

True to his word, you would soon see his number calling you back. I can’t recall being treated as kindly even by my friends at the Directorate of Presidential Communications. But Sefue did so countless times to me and to many other journalists. So, the other day I was thinking to myself: this man is in a meeting, maybe with none other than President Magufuli himself, yet he finds time to let me know that he is busy and would revert to me later! I was genuinely flattered.

I asked myself: Is it because of President Magufuli’s Hapa kazi tu (literally, Just work, nothing else)’ philosophy? No, Sefue was like that even when previously serving in the same capacity under fourth-phase President Jakaya Kikwete. Ombeni Sefue held the seniormost position in our country’s civil service.

Anybody in that powerful position would have easily developed “I’m a big man” attitude or would have chosen to direct most queries to the Directorate of Presidential Communications. But Sefue didn’t let power get over his head.

To the contrary, in my opinion, his humble demeanour and the respect he generously extended to journalists was with little parallel. In the recent history of our country, if I am allowed the liberty of choosing, only one person can join Sefue in that elite club of powerful yet meek and respectful public servants.

And that person is immediate past Controller and Auditor General Ludovick Utouh. Much like Sefue, CAG Utouh was a very cool guy, a friend of the media who knew no arrogance despite being at the helm of the national audit office. He was always available for comment and would never treat “ordinary people” any the less courteously than he would the high and mighty.

Humility, which spiritualists regard as the mother of all virtues, is very expensive; you don’t get it in cheap people. That is why, even though Sefue has been removed from his position for whatever reasons, I take my hat off to him in that particular context.

The rest is a topic for another day.

Songa wa Songa is a Senior Journalist with The Guardian. Email: songa.songa@guardian.co.tz