Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on April 25,2024.
Human rights report raises concerns about the trend of men abandoning their families in Tanzania
The human rights report for the year 2023 has revealed that gender-based violence (GBV) remains a significant threat to women’s rights in Tanzania. Prepared by the Legal and Human Rights Centre, the report highlights that women continue to face physical, psychological, and sexual violence.
Psychological violence manifests in various forms, including verbal abuse, humiliation, neglect, and abandonment. Notably, some men abandon their intimate partners upon pregnancy, leading to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
Tragically, this contributes to instances of infanticide, as some women, especially young ones, resort to abandoning or even discarding their babies in toilets.
Societal justifications for men abandoning their families persist, with reports indicating that some leave their wives for other women immediately after childbirth, only to return when the child is older.
In regions like Tabora, there are claims that men abandon their wives for fear of being killed by their wives to inherit property. Similarly, in Kigoma, the phenomenon is known as Kuhanzura, where men abandon their families or neglect their responsibilities.
Read the full story here
Experts in Tanzania want conservation ‘decolonised’ as World Bank pulls out of controversial project
Ecology and indigenous issues experts from Tanzania have reiterated their calls to authorities from the East African nation to “decolonise” the country’s tourism and conservation policies to avoid clashes with communities surrounding conserved areas and ensure the sector benefits the local population.
The renewed calls follow the decision by the World Bank to suspend funding for the Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW) project in the southern highlands of Tanzania following sustained pressure from activists who associated the project with human rights abuses against local communities.
The World Bank had already issued US$100 million, or Sh259.3 billion, for the project, whose stated objective was to improve the management of natural resources and tourism assets in priority areas when two Tanzanian nationals, representing over 21,000 others evicted from their communities, pressured the international lender to suspend its financing of the US$150 million project.
The decision comes almost half a year since the World Bank announced on November 17, 2023, that it was investigating claims filed by Tanzanians that the Bretton Woods institution was violating its own policies and procedures, including guidelines on Involuntary Resettlement and Indigenous Peoples, leading to numerous violations that have threatened the lives of thousands of people.
Read the full story here
ACT-Wazalendo: A Decade of democratic resilience in Tanzania my generation witnessed
ACT-Wazalendo has emerged as a beacon of democratic progress, captivating the youth with its swift and impactful revolution.
The party’s journey began with a notable event: Zitto Kabwe’s departure from CHADEMA, marking the inception of his venture with ACT-Tanzania before it was changed to ACT-Wazalendo, a name that resonated with me very much.
In late 2014, as a Form Four student, I had the privilege of meeting the late Anna Mughwira. She convened a group of us to share her strategic vision and her parliamentary aspirations for Singida in the upcoming 2015 elections as a representative of CHADEMA.
A few months later, the media buzzed with her announcement to seek the presidency under the ACT-Wazalendo banner, sparking my deeper interest in the party.
Despite its relative youth, ACT-Wazalendo faced its share of turbulence, particularly when influential figures like its former chief adviser Kitila Mkumbo and the 2015 presidential hopeful Anna Mughwira departed in 2016/2017. The subsequent political climate, marked by prohibitions on gatherings and police encounters, seemed to herald the party’s demise.
Read the full analysis here
This is it for today, and we hope you enjoyed our briefing. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter (see left), following us on X (Twitter) (here), or joining us on Telegram (here). And if you have any questions or comments, please drop a word to our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
