Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, February 5, 2024.
Dodoma RC issues report on the case of 132 girls who camped in Dodoma for religious teachings
Dodoma Regional Commissioner has issued a report regarding a case of 132 girls who were found housed in Dodoma for Islamic religious teaching. The RC report confirmed that the girls were housed in Nkuhungu and Chihanga in Dodoma.
“Among the girls, six of them left school at standard six; 93 are standard seven graduates, four of them had passed their exams; four are form-four graduates and ten are form-two students,” said Rosemary Senyamule, the Regional Commissioner of Dodoma.
“Some of the girls’ names were changed, they were not using their original names,” added Senyamule.
Senyamule said this during the regional security committee meeting regarding the incident which was first reported by Azam TV on February 02, 2023.
Sixty-five of the girls were found last Friday by the District Commissioner and the Police at Sogea Mbele Street. The center is operated by an institution called Al-Habshi. Speaking about the center, one of the teachers, Yusuph Mohamed said that the girls come from various places including Chemba, Kondoa, Tanga, and Singida, additional reports from RC include Manyara and Arusha region.
In its report, Azam TV said some of the parents said that the institutions had passed to various areas announcing that they were providing religious education but they didn’t have knowledge that their children were going to be congested in one room, without adequate ventilation, food, or safe water.
The management of the institution was arrested since it was confirmed that the organization was not registered.
CCM, CHADEMA row over stalled reconciliation talks
Reconciliation talks between the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and opposition party CHADEMA were confirmed to have stalled over the weekend, with each party accusing the other of being responsible for the unsatisfactory outcome of the process launched with much anticipation.
Talks between CHADEMA and CCM commenced in May 2022, almost two months since authorities dropped terrorism charges against CHADEMA national chairperson Freeman Mbowe to chart a new democratic future for Tanzania where all political players are treated equally and fairly.
The talks, which resulted from CHADEMA’s rejection to participate in reconciliation efforts driven by the presidential task force, saw eleven meetings between CCM and CHADEMA to discuss twelve arguments CHADEMA put forward. The last of these meetings occurred on June 2023, Mr Mbowe revealed on October 1, 2023.
Full story here.
Lawless ‘boda boda’ riders irk Deputy Speaker Zungu: ‘I’m disappointed’
Motorcycle taxi drivers in Tanzania, commonly called boda boda, risk losing their support in Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mussa Azzan Zungu, who said on Monday their carelessness of traffic laws “disappoints” him.
Mr Zungu, who doubles as Ilala MP (Chama cha Mapinduzi – CCM), expressed displeasure at the behaviour of the people providing the cheapest and quickest means of transportation during a discussion in the parliament.
It followed a question by Shaurimoyo MP (CCM) Ali Juma Mohamed, who wanted to know the government’s measures to address the problem.
Full story here.
Passed electoral bills give no hope for wider women’s participation in leadership in Tanzania
The three bills concerning election matters, which the parliament passed on February 2, 2024, will not produce legal frameworks that can bring about transformative changes in the representation of women in the August House.
Women’s rights movements in Tanzania had suggested the abolition of Special Seats. They proposed that each constituency be represented by two people, a man and a woman, to enable equal representation of the two genders in the parliament through constituent votes. Still, Members of Parliament (MPs) did not consider such demands.
The activists’ proposed model of representation would also decrease 94 MPs from the current 393 Members of Parliament (MPs), thus saving billions of shillings of citizens’ tax money.
Full analysis here.
Parents might want their children to be taught in English. But are children?
To all worshippers of English, I challenge you. We have shown you research results, but you refuse to consider them. We have explained the theories of language teaching; you reject these theories as usomi tu or elitist though they are used worldwide.
We have shown that throughout the world – apart from those colonised by the British and the French –and in UNESCO guidelines, it is recognised that – if you want a successful education system in which children gain the knowledge and skills they need, you must teach children in their own language, but you dismiss that saying that Tanzania is not the rest of the world. We are exceptional!
All right. I challenge you, worshippers, just as Elisha challenged the worshippers of Baal in the Bible. Prove me wrong.
Full analysis here.
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