Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, December 18, 2023.
Members of the personal data protection commission board appointed
Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Nape Nnauye has appointed five members to the personal data protection board. The new appointment comes almost a week after the appointment of the Chairperson Rajabu Adadi and the Vice Chairperson Fatma Mohamed Ali in the board.
The new members includes SACP Ramadhani Athumani Mungi who is the head (Commandant) of the Tanzania Police School Moshi, Edward Samwel Lyimo who is head of legal and company secretary at the National Bank of Commerce, Hamid Haji Machano who is the head of legal at the Zanzibar Airport Authority.
Other members are Maxence Melo Mubyazi a co-founder of Jamii Forum and longstanding advocate of internet freedoms and Frida Peter Mwera, Chief Legal Draftsman Attorney General Office.
The appointment of the five members completes the commission’s board, meaning the next anticipated act is the appointment of the Director General of the Commission for the commission to be fully operational as per the The Personal Data Protection Act.
Regional, district commissioners are colonial remnants. It’s time we undertake reforms
We have been asking ourselves why, 62 years after independence, we are not making significant progress in fundamental national matters. At the same time, we seem to seek answers beyond reality when the root of the problem is evident.
We enjoy deceiving ourselves when we have a flawed governance structure that empowers a few individuals without amenable accountability and feedback mechanisms for citizens.
A veteran journalist and activist, Jenerali Ulimwengu, once called our governance system a ‘do-it-yourself system.’ In one way or another, the executive branch of the state, specifically the president, is responsible for formulating policy, directing, implementing, advising, scrutinising and assessing the results.
He gave an example of the president appointing people like Regional Commissioners and Regional Administrative Secretaries. When visiting a particular region, the president is briefed by his appointee. Logically, it is challenging for them to speak against something that would displease their boss.
Full analysis here.
Somalia joining EAC: A win for both parties?
In six months, Somalia will be fully part of the East African Community (EAC) following its signing of the Treaty of Accession in the Ugandan State House on December 15, 2023.
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the bloc’s Secretary General, Dr Peter Mathuki, signed the treaty, which was witnessed by President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, who is the chairperson of the Heads of State Summit, and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni.
The decision to integrate Somalia was made after an ordinary meeting of the Heads of State of the EAC in Arusha on November 24, 2023, who directed the Council of Ministers to develop a roadmap for the integration of Somalia into the Community and report progress to the next meeting of the Summit.
Full analysis here.
Should we amalgamate parliament with the State House?
Well, I guess it was about time. In Tanzania, we are well known for our high fertility rate, and I guess it also refers to the birth of ministries, departments, agencies, and organisations, including non-governmental ones.
And not forgetting the need to feed all such organisations with luxury cars and massive so-called subsistence allowances of every kind. No wonder our institutions are suffering from severe obesity while the non-institutional borns suffer from stunting.
So yes, definitely, we cannot and should not go on feeding all these institutional babies. And I hope this is just a start, not just amalgamating but reducing their obscene obesity.
So, in celebration, I took myself to my favourite sitting room to amalgamate Konyagi and tonic water into one satisfying drink, accompanied by another traditional Tanzanian amalgamation of egg and chips, otherwise known as zege.
Full analysis here.
Headwinds media in Switzerland and Tanzania face
The World Press Freedom Day on May 5, 2024, is almost half a year away, which gives me the pretext to raise a question worth posing every day: how is the state of the media?
I will answer this question using my perspective: I am a journalist from Switzerland who has been working at The Chanzo in Tanzania for two months. I know the media landscape in my home country, and now I can experience another one, Tanzania’s.
I will use this opportunity to take a hard look at the media in both countries and share that insight with you. The goal is not to judge the respective systems but to highlight the similarities and differences.
Full analysis here.
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