Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, April 18, 2022.
New twist in the Nigerian woman saga as police shift blame to assault survivor
Police in Zanzibar said Monday that the Nigerian lady who reported sexual assault while on vacation in the archipelago refused to cooperate with law enforcement officers in ensuring that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to book.
In a highly circulated Twitter thread on Saturday, Zainab Oladehinde recounted how she barely escaped rape at the Warere Beach Hotel Zanzibar in April 2021. According to her, the would-be rapist got to her hotel room at Warere in the middle of the night despite having her hotel room locked.
In her explanation, Ms Oladehinde also mentioned that the suspects stole a total of $1,100 from her purse.
While making efforts to nab the culprit, Oladehinde said she reported to the police but the complaint was dismissed after a medical report established that there was no penetration. She also said the owner of the hotel put the blame on her and claimed that she was lying.
The hotel faulted the aggrieved client, Zainab, for declining to take the case further after pursuing numerous avenues in her quest for justice.
But the Mkoa wa Kaskazini police commander Martin Otieno told journalists on Monday that the reason why law enforcement officers failed to work on the case is the lack of cooperation from Ms Oladehinde and the complainant to demand compensation inappropriately.
“[Ms Oladehinde] wanted the police to help her make the hotel owner pay her $10,000, something that the police was not supposed to oversee,” Otieno said. “We informed Ms Zainab about it but she was reluctant to accept our advice. We even recommended that she file a civil lawsuit against the hotel while the police were investigating the primary case of assault but she declined to do so.”
Otieno added that a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in an attempt to bring the two suspects – twenty-one-year-old Ezekiel Petro Josef and twenty-three-year-old Mohamed Juma Khamis – but DPP had to drop the case given the insufficient evidence that supported it.
According to the police, this included Ms Oladehinde’s statement that she could only identify the person who assaulted her sexually by his smell.
Mr Otieno wondered why it took Ms Oladehinde a year before she recounted her experience in Zanzibar, going as far as accusing her of “[an attempt] to sabotage the Tanzania Police Force and the Zanzibar tourism sector.”
In her Twitter thread on Saturday, however, Ms Oladehinde clarified why she talked about the matter now while it took place a year ago, saying: “I haven’t been able to talk about it [because] I’ve been in therapy for a year to heal from the psychological trauma as this experience has been the most painful and traumatic experience I’ve ever faced in my entire life.”
It is not clear if Monday’s report by the police will have any impact on the investigation that Zanzibar’s Commission for Tourism promised it was going to launch into the matter.
In a statement, the body said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the incident, adding that it was taking the allegations “very seriously” and “immediate investigation” has been launched into the matter.
“We condemn any harm or threat to our visitors to the peaceful islands of Zanzibar,” said the statement signed by one Hafsa Mbaba.
Ngorongoro residents in panic as authorities seek to transfer over Sh355m COVID-19 funding to Handeni
The government is intending to transfer funding previously aimed for Ngorongoro to the Handeni district in what human rights activists have criticised as punishment to people living in Ngorongoro who have until now refused to comply with the government’s demand to leave the conservation area and vacate in Handeni, Tanga.
The move was released to the public thanks to the leak of two letters from Ngorongoro Executive Director Dr Jumaa Mhina to headmasters of primary and secondary schools directing them to transfer the funding they have received as part of the COVID-19 funding to the Handeni district.
One letter with reference number NGOR/DC/F.1/02/VOLIII/68 was sent to headmasters of primary schools of Endulen, Misigyo Essere directing them to transfer a sum of Sh160,000,000 to Handeni. Endulen Sh80,000,000; Misigyo Sh40,000,000; and Essere Sh40,000,000.
Another letter was sent to headmasters of three secondary schools of Embaraway, Nainokanoka, and Ngorongoro Girls School, directing them to transfer a total of Sh195,000,000 to Handeni: Embaraway Sh66,000,000; Nainokanoka Sh80,000,000; and Ngorongoro Girls School Sh49,000,000.
Both letters are dated March 31, 2022. The letters do not explain what might have motivated the development.
However, the move comes almost a month since the government said it has designated an area in the Handeni district of Tanga where Maasai who will voluntarily choose to vacate Ngorongoro will be relocated.
The government seeks to relocate a total of 70,000 from the Ngorongoro conservation area under the justification that the world’s heritage centre according to UNESCO is threatened by human activity.
On March 11, 2022, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said he had received a list of 48 households with a total of 453 people from Ngorongoro who are willing to relocate but many doubted if that was true, with some criticising the government for taking people not from Ngorongoro to realize its goal.
The national coordinator for Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) Mr Onesmo Olengurumwa reacted to the authorities’ decision to transfer the fund to Handeni by describing it “extremely sad” development.
“This is how my people from Ngorongoro are being treated,” wrote Onesmo who is a native of Ngorongoro in a Twitter post. “I don’t what wrong have people of Ngorongoro done. I’m thinking of possible steps to take.”
Tanzania expects to generate 200MW from geothermal
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Energy Felchesmi Mramba said the government has identified 52 areas that could produce geothermal power as Tanzania plans to generate 200MW from the geothermal by 2025, the government-owned Daily News newspaper reported.
According to the official, the sites are spread across the regions of Mbeya, Arusha, Dodoma, Iringa, Coast, Kilimanjaro, Kagera, Katavi, Shinyanga, Morogoro, Mwara, Manyara, Rukwa, Singida, Songwe and Tanga.
Mr Mramba made the statement during his tour to inspect sources of geothermal energy at Kiejo-Mbaka and Ngozi in Mbeya region.
“Generally, the government intends to inject into the national grid a total of 1100MW produced from the renewable energy such as geothermal, solar and wind, before 2025,” the paper quoted Mramba as saying.
He added that the ministry makes huge efforts in developing sources of geothermal energy because such sources of energy are sustainable.
“The inspection we have done would help the government to take proper steps in developing such sources of power,” he stated.
He said during drought water levels in dams would go down, thus affecting hydropower production, but the geothermal can sustain during droughts or rains,” he argued.
The Tanzania Geothermal Development Company (TGDC), a subsidiary of state-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco), is covering several geothermal sites for potential development in Tanzania, including Ngozi in Mbeya and Songwe regions, Kiejo-Mbaka in Mbeya region, Natron in Arusha region and Luhoi in the coastal region.
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