Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Tuesday, July 5, 2022.
CCM: Demands for New Constitution should not be considered urgent
The ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has said that while it agrees with the demands for the New Constitution, it does not agree with the notion that the process to rewrite the mother law should be fast-tracked, saying “there is no urgency in writing a New Constitution.”
The clarification was made on Monday by the party’s Ideology and Publicity Secretary Shaka Hamdu Shaka when he visited the government-owned Tanzania Standard (Newspapers) Limited (TSN), which publishes Daily News and HabariLeo newspapers among others.
Mr Shaka’s clarification almost two weeks after CCM came forward to join the chorus for the New Constitution, pointing out that the “current contexts” demanded it for “the larger national interests.”
“We support constitutional changes or writing a new constitution but there has to be enough time because there is no urgency,” Mr Shaka was quoted by the Daily News newspaper as saying.
Mr Shaka made it clear that “we have no objection to the New Constitution or constitutional changes,” but what the party was standing for was that “the matter should not be considered urgent. Citizens, who are the main stakeholders must be fully involved, educated and understand what type of constitution they want.”
“The needed constitution is not for politicians who have carried their own agenda but it is for citizens,” he added.
According to Shaka, the process for rewriting the Constitution requires “thinking and discussion.”
“People should sit down and think, we should not rush,” he emphasized. “There is no urgency in writing a new constitution, we need enough time to write it. People have to be engaged and educated. The proposed constitution is there so it depends on how we want to go about it.”
Kiswahili now official language in Uganda
The government of Uganda announced on Tuesday that it has approved the adoption of Kiswahili as an official language and directed that it be made a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools.
The government set up the Uganda National Kiswahili Council in 2019 to guide the introduction of Kiswahili as the second national (official) language.
The Cabinet decision, Uganda says, is in line with the directive of the 21st East African Community (EAC) Summit held in February 2021 that directed the expedition of the implementation of Kiswahili, English and French as official languages in the bloc.
“Cabinet recommended that the teaching of Kiswahili language in primary and secondary should be made compulsory and examinable,” a statement, released Tuesday, on the Cabinet resolutions read. “It was also further agreed that training programmes for Parliament, Cabinet and the media be initiated.”
English has been Uganda’s only official language since independence in 1962. Kiswahili was proposed as the second official language in 2005 but is only taught as an optional subject in secondary schools since 2017.
Edenville Energy to boost Tanzania’s operations; CEO to step down
Shares of Edenville Energy PLC, a United Kingdom-based company, a thermal coal developer in Tanzania, rose on Tuesday after the company said that it will make changes on its board as it aims to expand its Rukwa project in Tanzania to benefit from increased demand for coal, business website MarketWatch reported.
Shares at 08:28 GMT were up 1.5 pence, or 12 per cent, at 14.5 pence, it was reported
The London-listed energy company said that Chief Executive Officer Alistair Muir and non-executive Chairman Jeff Malaihollo have stepped down with immediate effect.
Mr Malaihollo will stay as a consultant for the next three months to ensure a smooth transition, it added.
The company has appointed Paul Ryan as the new CEO and Nick von Schirnding as non-executive chairman.
It also added that Andre Hope will join the board as a non-executive director. Edenville said the incoming board members will spend significant time in Tanzania and will retain and relocate certain experienced personnel from other existing African coal operations to Tanzania.
Stray elephants destroy over 100 hectares of farm crops in Handeni
The Handeni district administrative secretary Mr Mashaka Mgeta said Monday that a herd of elephants has destroyed more than 100 hectares of farm crops in two villages in Tanzania’s eastern district of Handeni in the Tanga region, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
Mr Mgeta said the elephants have been invading Mzeri and Mbagwi villages for the past two weeks.
The farm crops that have been destroyed by the elephants belong to 107 households, Mgeta told Xinhua on the telephone, noting that in most cases the animals raided the villages at night.
According to him, the elephants have been straying from northern zone national parks, including Tarangire national park in the Manyara region. And officials from the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA) were assessing the situation to establish the damage caused by the elephants.
“TAWA officials are also trying to establish the number of elephants that are wreaking havoc on the villages,” said Mgeta.
Siriel Mchembe, the Handeni district commissioner, said the elephants have also destroyed maize farms, and mango and banana plantations.
John Salu, a Member of Parliament for Handeni rural constituency, appealed to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in collaboration with TAWA to drive the destructive animals away.
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One Response
“According to Shaka, the process for rewriting the Constitution requires “thinking and discussion.”
“People should sit down and think, we should not rush,” he emphasized
What is he talking about? Does he know anything about Warioba Report and Constitutional Parliament? We spent billions that went down the drain and now he wants to start all over again?
Come on be serious. Stop taking us for a ride