Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, April 10, 2023.
‘Enough is enough’: Pressure piles on Samia to hold to account officials responsible for misuse of public funds
Two leading opposition parties on Monday came forward to demand President Samia Suluhu Hassan holds to account government officials named in the Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) reports to have mismanaged public funds.
The call comes in the wake of damning reports implicating numerous government institutions in massive corruption and the misuse of public funds scandals that have wagged tongues for the past few days.
In his audit reports for the 2021/2022 financial year, CAG Charles Kichere details how taxpayers’ money worth trillions of shilling went down the drain, triggering a public outcry amidst the soaring high cost of living in the country.
Kichere’s reports about the mismanagement of public funds were so damning that President Samia, receiving the reports at the State House in Dar es Salaam on April 7, 2023, concluded: “We are killing our own country.”
CHADEMA Secretary-General John Mnyika told journalists on Monday that President Samia is yet to apply the powers bestowed upon her by the Constitution in holding to account officials implicated in the corruption, something he thinks leaves many questions unanswered.
He said the CAG’s revelations are enormous and that Tanzanians are expecting their leader to take appropriate actions against all those responsible for the mishandling of their hard-earned money.
“Tanzanians are expecting President Samia, who apart from being the Head of the State is also the Head of the Government, to remove from offices officials whose portfolios have been implicated in these misuse of public funds,” Mnyika said during a press conference.
Full story here.
Samia endorses Mulamula for Commonwealth post
Chief Government Spokesperson Gerson Msigwa has said that President Samia Suluhu Hassan has endorsed Ambassador Liberata Mulamula for the post of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Speaking to the government-owned HabariLeo newspaper, Mr Msigwa said that President Samia believes that Mulamula’s experience in diplomatic matters will have an outstanding contribution to strengthening the relationship between Tanzania and the commonwealth community.
“The government under President Samia Suluhu Hassan has endorsed her name and supports her because it believes in her abilities, she will represent the country well, and she will be a good ambassador for Tanzania and Africa in general,” the paper quoted him as saying.
Mulamula, former Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs Minister, seeks to succeed Patricia Scotland, who is currently serving the 6th Commonwealth Secretary-General.
Born in Dominica and a Dominican candidate for the post at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta in 2015, Scotland is the second Secretary-General from the Caribbean and the first woman to hold the post.
With more than 35 years of experience as a career diplomat, Mulamula was the first female ever to serve as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation.
In 2018, António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, appointed Mulamula as a member of his Advisory Group on Peacebuilding Fund for two years and appointed her again in 2020 for two years.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General promotes and protects the Commonwealth’s values and principles as reflected in the Commonwealth Charter. The Secretary-General also represents the Commonwealth globally and manages the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The Secretary-General regularly contacts Commonwealth governments, civil society, and other leaders regularly. In addition, he or she exercises a ‘Good Offices for Peace’ role to work with leaders when political tensions arise in member states.
Consensus by Commonwealth leaders selects the Secretary-General who can serve a maximum of two four-year terms. The post was created with the Commonwealth Secretariat at the 1965 Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference in London, United Kingdom. Since then, there have been six incumbents.
U.S. Embassy partners with SELFINA to support women entrepreneurs from Pemba, Mara
U.S. Embassy in Tanzania, in partnership with SELFINA, has launched applications for the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) program.
The program aims at connecting women business builders in Tanzania with the tools needed to bring their bright entrepreneurial ideas to life.
AWE is a new program from the U.S. Department of State supporting the development of women entrepreneurs worldwide.
The program aims to reach 50 million women by 2025 and commits to providing women with the knowledge, tools, and networks that they need to turn their ideas into successful businesses.
Through facilitated online learning, women will further their business skills, network with mentors, and realise their ideas.
If you are a woman entrepreneur between 20-45 and reside in Pemba or Mara, and you have a business idea or an already established business, this program is aimed at you. Apply here.
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