Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, June 20, 2022.

Tanzania puts in place electronic system for investment applications

The director of Investments in the Ministry of Investment, Industries and Trade Mr Aristedes Mbwasi has said that Tanzania has put in place an electronic system to ease the processing of the investment applications.

This means that investors from outside Tanzania do not have to go from one office to another for permits and the like. This is one of the reforms initiated by the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), a government agency mandated to promote investments, to make the investment environment conducive. 

Mr Mbwasi was quoted by The Citizen newspaper as saying that potential investors would now be relieved of the need to move from one place to another for clearance of the service needed. He was speaking in Arush during a meeting convened for investors from The Netherlands, Tanzania’s second-largest trade partner in the European Union (EU).

The meeting was convened for the stakeholders to take stock of measures underway to remove major hurdles in the processing of investment registration.

Mr Mbwasi said the government was keen to know the outstanding challenges so that it can swiftly act on them, and by doing so, create a more conducive environment.

He said The Netherlands was not only an important source of investments in the country but also a major market for Tanzania’s agricultural exports.

Türkiye shares its experience in e-government with Tanzania

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and TURKSAT, communications satellite operator in Türkiye, held an online training on the ‘Introduction to e-Government Systems’ for 35 employees of the e-Government Agency of Tanzania, according to a statement released on Monday.

During the training program, the trainees examined the countries that successfully completed their transition to e-Government systems, and were informed about Türkiye’s experience, the organizational structure of e-Government systems, best practices, and cyber security.

Dr Jaha Mvulla, Manager of Research, Innovation, and Training at the e-Government Agency of Tanzania, said during the closing ceremony held for the program and said that he was pleased with the opportunity to benefit from the experience of Türkiye, which successfully completed its transition to the e-Government system. 

Mr Mvulla thanked TİKA and TURKSAT, stating that they hoped to cooperate with Türkiye in other advanced training activities.

The next phase of the training will be held face-to-face in Tanzania, according to the press release.

Tanzania is banking on Türkiye’s e-Government practices and solid infrastructure in an attempt to realize its bold Digital Tanzania ambition.

Türkiye’s rapid transformation is acknowledged to have enabled many governments to offer a wide range of digital services.

Conservation watchdog ‘deeply concerned’ by violence in Loliondo

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an international organization working on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, said Sunday that it was “deeply concerned” by reports of violence by security forces against the Maasai Indigenous Peoples in the Loliondo, calling reports of fatalities and injuries “alarming.”

A police officer was killed and the Maasai Indigenous Peoples were injured during an altercation between security forces and natives who were protesting authorities’ attempt to demarcate over 1,500 square kilometres of village land.

The government has denied reports of eviction, saying the exercise was only meant to protect an area used for wildebeest migration and wildlife reproduction as well as protecting a source of water. 

The IUCN becomes the latest organisation to condemn the incident after a number of other organisations as well as individuals people have come forward to decry what happened, urging the government to launch an independent investigation into the matter and bring all the perpetrators to justice. 

“IUCN urges the Government of Tanzania to take responsibility to immediately stop all human rights violations, to provide remedy and security to those harmed, and to ensure appropriate peaceful measures are undertaken towards recognizing, respecting and protecting the rights of the Maasai communities,” the organisation said in a statement. 

It reminded authorities of the need to adhere to the 2018 East African Court of Justice (EACJ) injunction on the ongoing land dispute in the area, which held that all evictions are postponed and intimidations of community members are stopped.

“It is urgent to initiate a fair, just and equitably governed consultative process to identify long-term solutions, and to investigate and address human rights violations related to nature conservation, including any establishment, amendment or expansion of protected or conserved areas,” the organisation added. 

The IUCN said that this requires an in-depth impact assessment and the full, effective and meaningful participation of all rightsholders and stakeholders, consistent with international human rights law, norms and best practices.

Meanwhile, another group of Maasai people living in Dar es Salaam on Monday organised a counter-demonstration against the one that took place on Friday outside the Kenyan High Commission in the city.

Friday’s demonstrators charged that Kenya was behind the ongoing conflict between the Maasai people from Ngorongoro and the government, demanding it stops fueling such a conflict. Kenyan authorities have not responded to these accusations.

Monday’s demonstrators disowned those who protested on Friday, saying many of those who took part in the demonstration were tricked to come to Dar es Salaam after being promised that there was some work to be done, and they were not told that they would take part in a pro-government rally.

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