Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on May 20,2024.
Tanzania added Sh. 1.6 Trillion to its 2023/24 budget for operations in DRC, Mozambique and for financing military equipment
Tanzania’s Minister of Defence and National Service, Stergomena Tax, announced that her ministry has received a special budget increase of Sh. 1.6 trillion (USD 633 million) for the 2023/24 financial year to support ongoing operations and equipment purchases.
The minister reported this yesterday, May 20, 2024, during the tabling of the defense ministry budget. The country budgeted to increase its defense spending to a total of Shs. 3.32 trillion for the financial year 2024/25
Speaking regarding the budget increase for the current financial year, which concludes in June 2024, she said: “The Ministry has received additional funds totaling 1,648,083,492,153.66 Shillings for specific tasks, including financing various contracts for tools and equipment, paying contractual debts for tools and equipment to local and foreign suppliers.
She continued on the purpose of the budget add-on: “To support officers and soldiers in various operations, including the Southern African Development Community Mission to Combat Terrorism in Mozambique (SADC Mission in Mozambique – SAMIM) and the Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SADC Mission in DRC – SAMIDRC).”
Read the full stroy here
US Ambassador urges Tanzania to enhance local value addition for its critical minerals
The United States Ambassador to Tanzania, Michael A. Battle, has stressed the importance of adding value to Tanzania’s critical mineral resources before export as an important step for building wealth for the Tanzania’s population.
Ambassador Battle spoke during the Democracy Forum on May 17, 2024. The forum was held at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Zanzibar, organized by the Centre for Strategic Litigation, LHRC, Tanzania Centre for Democracy (TCD), and WAHAMAZA.
“Tanzania has a right to insist that anyone who gets its critical mineral resources must create first and second-tier value addition that creates wealth in Tanzania,” argued Ambassador Battle.
He added: “The reason we believe so strongly in this, is that when you look at Tanzania as a country with about 65 million people, on its way to becoming 130 million people by 2050, there is no way in the world that Tanzania can afford to have that large population without an industrial base, without a manufacturing base.”
Read the full story here
President Samia mourns Iran President Raisi
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan has sent her condolences to the people of Iran for the death of President Ebrahim Raisi.
In an X post President Samia said: “On behalf of the Government and People of the United Republic of Tanzania, I wish to convey our deepest condolences to the Government and People of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the tragic death of His Excellency Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We join you in mourning the loss of your leader, and wish you strength and comfort during this difficult time.”
President Raisi alongside his foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, and seven other people died in a tragic helicopter crash in Iran’s mountainous East Azerbaijan province on May 19, 2024.
Tanzania and Iran relations have recently been revitalized through the frequent visits between officials from the two nations. In August 2022, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian visited Tanzania as part of his Africa tour aimed at strengthening ties that exist between the Middle Eastern nation and African nations. On August 24, 2023, President Samia and Raisi met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in South Africa.
Prioritising the voices of women for peacebuilding in Sudan
Since April 2023, two armed rival factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, have been fighting for control of Sudan and the country’s resources. The conflict has claimed over 13,000 lives and injured about 26,000, as of January 2024.
According to the United Nations (UN), this conflict has displaced about nine million within the country. Apart from internal displacement, there is economic instability and a collapse of essential services, which affects women and girls disproportionately.
Reports of gender-based violence are on the rise, with many instances of sexual assault, forced marriages, and other forms of abuse against women and girls in captivity. The African Union (AU) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) must intervene and initiate peace talks in Sudan as quickly as possible, despite Sudan being suspended from the AU following a military coup in 2021.
Read the full analysis here
Slavery day in Zanzibar: Is it a big deal?
The Anglican Bishops’ proposal and subsequent assent by Zanzibar President Ali Hassan Mwinyi to designate June 6 as a day of remembrance of slavery is highly welcomed.
Historians reckon that between 26 and 30 million men, women and children were trafficked as enslaved people out of tropical Africa, by land and by sea in the period between 1,300 years from 600 to 900 AD.
This historical tragedy flowed in three directions: north across the great African Deserts, east over the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and west beyond the Atlantic Ocean to America. Also, 14 to 16 million enslaved people were taken north across the Sahara, and east to the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
However, these numbers are thought by some scholars to underestimate the magnitude of the entire African slave trade. For instance, historian David Hackett Fischer argues in his 2022 book titled African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals that parts of the African slave trade were much older than the Atlantic slave trade.
Read the analysis here
This is it for today, and we hope you enjoyed our briefing. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter (see left), following us on X (Twitter) (here), or joining us on Telegram (here). And if you have any questions or comments, please drop a word to our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
One Response
What pride do we attach to the slavery of our valuable human resources? Keeping the memory of this shameful event is tragedy.In the same way we wish to forget the history of Idd Amin Dada of Uganda in Tanganyika and Zanzibar.