Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania over the weekend.
Samia announces mini cabinet reshuffle
President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced a mini cabinet reshuffle on Saturday, dropping Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, Geoffrey Mwambe, William Lukuvi, Prof Kitila Mkumbo and Mwita Waitara.
The Head of State also changed the structure of three ministries. The Ministry of Investment, previously under the Office of the Prime Minister had been combined with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to form the Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade.
President Samia also created the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women, and Special Groups. The two ministries were previously combined into one, something which the President herself had admitted it was not the best way of running the two portfolios.
Saturday’s mini cabinet reshuffle comes hardly four days after President Samia hinted about it on January 4, 2021, promising to get rid of her assistants who have their eyes in the 2025 general elections.
“But all those whom I feel that they have their eyes there [on the 2025 general elections], and work in accordance with that aspiration,” she pointed out, “I’ll relieve them of their duties so that they can have an ample time to prepare themselves [for the election but] outside the government.”
Four ministers and one deputy minister were dropped by President Samia in her Saturday’s cabinet reshuffle. This includes Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, William Lukuvi, Geoffrey Mwambe, Prof Kitila Mkumbo and Mwita Waitara who were serving as Minister for Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Minister for Land, Minister for Investment, Minister for Industry and Trade and Deputy Minister for Works and Transportation respectively.
Read who is who in President Samia’s new cabinet here.
Auctioning of 75 tourist hunting blocks to take off this week
The auctioning of 75 tourist hunting blocks is expected to take off on January 12, 2022 and will last for seven days. Eligible hunting companies can be allocated up to five hunting blocks each, which shall be of different categories, with tenure between 10 to 15 years.
In its statement TAWA explained that The 75 hunting blocks are in two groups, group A comprising 26 blocks which are now on auction and group B comprising 49 blocks which their tenure will commence on 1st January 2023.
In February 2021, TAWA said 10 firms had applied to operate 10 tourist hunting blocks through electronic auctioning.Imani Nkuwi, TAWA deputy commissioner for tourism and business services, told Xinhua that initially TAWA had announced 30 vacant hunting blocks but the number was reduced to 10.
In March 2020, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism postponed the electronic auctioning of the vacant hunting blocks.The decision was made due to market instability caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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