Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.
Man arrested in Zanzibar for robbing Polish tourists
Police in the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar have arrested a thirty-seven-year-old man for allegedly robbing Polish tourists in the archipelago before abandoning them in the streets.
Mohamed Aboud Mtoro is said to have committed the alleged crime on July 23, 2022, while driving a Noah Vox vehicle with the registration number Z761GP, Mjini Maghrib regional police commander Richard Thadei Mchomvu told journalists on Wednesday.
Posing as a taxi driver, Mtoro took the soon-to-be-robbed tourists from the Kaskazini Unguja region to the Mjini Maghrib region but robbed them along the way before abandoning them in Mombasa, a town in the region.
Zanzibar is generally not considered dangerous to tourists, according to the travel website Sac à Voyages. While it admits incidents of theft or scams are reported, the website says it is the same thing on all tourist sites around the world.
“But while Zanzibar isn’t one of the most dangerous places in the world, it’s not a 100 per cent safe island either,” the website cautions. “Indeed, the crime rate has been increasing in recent years.”
Wednesday’s arrest itself comes almost five months since a Nigerian tourist Zainab Oladehinde accused police in Zanzibar of dismissing her case of alleged raping and robbery that took place while she was staying in one of the hotels in Zanzibar.
Full story here.
Minister halts implementation of new NHIF arrangement amidst backlash
Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu on Wednesday had to stop the implementation of the new National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF)’s arrangement amidst outcry from the fund’s members who criticised it as unfair.
The arrangement, which came into force on August 1, 2022, would stop an NHIF member who is used to getting treated in one hospital from using the same membership card in another hospital unless they get a referral or after the lapsing of thirty days.
Tanzanians on Twitter took issue with the arrangement, with some criticising the idea by calling it unpractical as well as unfair to members.
“I directed NHIF to stop the implementation of their new arrangement immediately,” Mwalimu was quoted as saying on Wednesday. “I want them to engage both public and private health service providers first and see how they solve this problem.”
The Tanga Urban MP (Chama cha Mapinduzi – CCM) said that she gets NHIF’s idea to control unnecessary costs but any arrangement to deal with that must have the input of key stakeholders.
Mwalimu urged NHIF members to continue seeking medical services using their membership cards while the challenge is being sorted out.
Over 2,900 illegal immigrants arrested in Kagera in six months
Tanzanian immigration authorities said Tuesday that at least 2,940 illegal immigrants were arrested in the country’s northwestern region of Kagera between January and June this year.
Xinhua news agency quoted Thomas Fussy, the Kagera region head of the Tanzania Immigration Services, as saying that the illegal immigrants were arrested during a special crackdown that lasted six months.
Fussy said the arrested illegal immigrants were from different countries, including Rwanda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Somalia, Burundi, Uganda, and Zambia.
He said 2,735 of the arrested illegal immigrants have been repatriated to their home countries, 183 have been charged in courts for illegal stay and 22 have been given residence permits.
The official said most of the illegal immigrants were engaged in farming activities and livestock keeping.
Fussy warned residents in the region against hosting illegal immigrants saying those implicated in doing so will be prosecuted.
In 2013, President Kikwete had warned local leaders of Kagera that if they don’t take the issue of immigration serious, there is fear of changing completely demographic of Kagera which in turn will mean critical security challenge for Tanzania in protecting its border. By this time Tanzania had serious tension with a neighboring country and there was fear of elevation of tension.
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