Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Thursday, February 01, 2024.
Tanzania court adopts Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its processes
Tanzania Chief Justice Prof. Ibrahim Hamis Juma said that the Tanzania judiciary has incorporated AI in its new transcriptions and translations system that aims to improve court efficiency.
Prof.Juma shared this new achievement yesterday at Chinangali ground in Dodoma during the Law Week commemoration event.
“We can’t hire stenographers for all 34 judges serving the Court of Appeal, 105 judges in the High Court, and about 2000 magistrates, but we can use A. I which we have now adopted for transcription” said Juma.
“Automatic transcription will reduce the judge’s burden of work, as the judges and magistrates’ job is to listen and make decisions and not to do transcription,” continued Prof Juma.
To ensure that the system performs its translation task efficiently, the system was fed with Kiswahili dialects of various communities from Tanzanian inland to Pemba Island. The system was also trained on the Tanzanian English attribution.
The system was developed in collaboration with the Italian company Almawave, using its proprietary speech recognition technologies of PerVoice.
According to the company, the framework agreement with the Tanzania judiciary will last for four years, with the first-year value of the contract standing at USD 1.1 Million. The total framework agreement is expected to reach the tune of USD 3 Million.
The Tanzania Chief Justice said that so far eleven sets have been installed. Almawave reports show that the system is expected to be installed in 50 courtrooms out of 169 courtrooms in Tanzania.
Tanzania court has about 10 ICT systems with the most prominent being the e-case management system that supervises the overall case management in Tanzania, lawyers and clients have access to follow up their case proceedings directly through the system.
China dominated FDI in Tanzania with USD 308 million investment in Q4 of 2023
The latest report from the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) shows that China is the top contributor of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Tanzania, contributing USD 308.2 million between October 2023 and December 2023.
Following China, other leading sources of FDI include Mauritius with US 78 investment, Kenya with USD 50 million investment, India with USD 39.84 million, and Italy with USD 39.29 million investment. Cumulatively in the last half of 2023, investment from China amounts to USD 922 making it the top contributor of FDI in the country.
In total, Tanzania has registered a total of 161 projects in quarter four an increase from the 137 projects recorded last quarter and a 63 percent increase compared to the same period last year, which recorded only 58 projects.
Total capital invested in these projects is USD 1.39 billion, an increase from the USD 769.65 billion recorded last year.
Sectors that attracted the most investment were manufacturing (59 projects), followed by transportation (36 projects), tourism (21 projects) commercial building (14 projects), agriculture (14 projects), tourism (14 projects), mining and petroleum (5 projects).
Dar es Salaam recorded the highest number of registered projects (67 projects) valued at USD 454.7 million, followed by the Coast region with 26 projects valued at USD 380.77 and Arusha with 15 projects valued at USD 66.13 million.
AG is concerned about people seeking justice in improper channels
Tanzania Attorney GeneralEliezer Feleshi has raised a concern about people seeking justice using improper channels. Feleshi was speaking during the Law Day commemoration event held at Chinangali ground in Dodoma.
“I like to research [issues], but what surprises me the most is that issues that people used to complain about fifteen years ago are the same issues that still exist today,” said Feleshi.
“I follow rallies conducted by the CCM’s Secretary of Publicity and Ideology, I see people flocking to him like floods [searching for justice], and similarly, if you follow places of worship, people still flock there as well,” continued Feleshi.
As a strategy of enticing voters, the new CCM Secretary of Publicity and Ideology, Paul Makonda has been inviting people who have different challenges to come to his rallies.
People have shown up in numbers raising concerns, with the majority of the issues related to the criminal justice system such as; case delays, officials ignoring their pleas, harassment, and abuse by the Police.
In an incredible performance move, which seemed to attract attention, Makonda would call various officials on stage and ask them to respond directly to the issues raised and even issue ultimatums to the officials.
In response to this, the AG office is contemplating opening a 24-hour center in which people will submit their concerns on any legal issues.
“Madam President, we consider this a challenge. Despite our education, access to resources, and ongoing improvements, people also what their expectation to be met. We intend to establish a 24-hour integrated supportive center so that we can reduce people using improper channels for assistance”, said Feleshi
Mwinyi slams Minister who resigned on social media
In direct response to the resignation of the Zanzibar ex-Minister of Tourism, Simai Mohamed Said, President Hussein Mwinyi called for people to be ‘truthful and transparent’ when they decide to resign.
“If there is any other reason that makes you resign be transparent, tell the truth, even if its because we have blocked something and you have a business in that area,” argued Mwinyi in his address following the swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers.
Mwinyi went on to insinuate that the minister had resigned because of conflict of interest.
“[When you resign] tell the truth, say there is a conflict of interest, I am an importer of something and you have blocked it, we must be honest,” added Mwinyi.
In a statement that was released by Said during his resignation announcemnt, he explained that his decision stems from circumstances that have made it challenging for him to fulfill his responsibilities.
Two days before his resignation Said had convened an emergency meeting with restaurant and hotel stakeholders to discuss the shortage of liquor in the Isles.
Various reports have suggested that Said was not happy with the decision of the Zanzibar Liquor Board (ZLB) to change importers of liquor in the isle, and he had related the shortage of liquor to the inefficiency of the new agents.
Mwinyi has advised officials that if they intend to resign, they should consult first with the person who appointed them.
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