Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Tuesday, June 04, 2024.

Tanzania to spend Tshs. 13.13 trillion to service its debt in FY 2024/25

Tanzania has budgeted Sh. 13.13 trillion for debt repayment in the upcoming fiscal year of 2024/2025, an increase from Sh. 10.48 trillion that the government had planned to spend in the current fiscal year of 2023/2024.

This was revealed in parliament on June 04, 2024, by the Minister of Finance, Mwigulu Nchemba when he was tabling his 18.17 trillion budget for his ministry. In the current financial year, the government has settled maturity notices for government debt totaling Sh.8.48 trillion, equivalent to 81% achievement of the annual target.

The planned amount for servicing the debt represents approximately 27% of the entire government budget for 2024/25, which is expected to be read on June 13, 2024. The latest report from the Central Bank put the government debt at Tshs. 91.4 trillion of which USD 23.7 Billion represents external debt and 30.7 trillion represents domestic debt

Since 2019, Tanzania has increased its rate of acquiring non-concessional loans, the majority of which was spent on financing the SGR rail. This has been one of the sources of the increase in government debt, it’s expected the debt burden will continue to soar due to the ongoing depreciation of the shilling.

VOA changed its report on the South Korea loan to Tanzania

The Voice of America (VOA) has amended the headline of its report which said the Tanzania government has given part of its ocean and minerals to South Korea for a USD 2.5 billion loan.

The headline earlier read, ‘Tanzania has received a loan from South Korea and given a portion of its ocean and minerals’ has been amended to ‘Tanzania has borrowed 2.5 billion dollars from South Korea’.

The headline has sparked a heated debate on X and various WhatsApp groups forcing the government to provide clarification about the loan.

“Tanzania has not signed any agreement with the Republic of Korea regarding the sea or minerals during the visit of President Samia Suluhu to Korea. During this visit, the President witnessed the signing of only one agreement, which is a concessional loan agreement of 2.5 billion US dollars for infrastructure projects,” said Togolani Mavura, Tanzania Ambassador to South Korea.

Mavula explained further that the President has also witnessed the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for cooperation in the sectors of the blue economy and strategic minerals and the joint statement on the readiness to start negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

He further clarified: “Tanzania has not exchanged anything for the concessional loan from Korea as stated. Tanzania is receiving a concessional loan through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) for the third time. The first loan was 733 million US dollars (2014-2020); the second was 1 billion US dollars (2021-2025), and this third loan is 2.5 billion US dollars (2024-2028).”

The Ambassador explained that the loan is repaid in 40 years with interest of 0.01 percent and a grace period of 25 years.

Stakeholders demand government accountability following the abduction of a child with albinism

Various human rights stakeholders have urged the government to self-assess and take appropriate action to ensure those responsible are held accountable for the recent abduction of a two-year-old child named Asiimwe Novath, which occurred on May 30, 2024, in Bulamula Village, Mbale Hamlet, Kamachumu Ward, Muleba District, Kagera Region.

In a statement released by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) on June 4, 2024, LHRC condemned the brutal incidents against people with albinism in Tanzania and called for the government to ensure that Asiimwe Novath is found and that all perpetrators are brought to justice.

“This incident comes shortly after a ten-year-old child with albinism, Kazungu Julius, was attacked by unknown individuals and slashed with machetes in various parts of his body, leading to severe blood loss,” reads the report presented to the press by the Executive Director of LHRC, Dr. Anna Henga.

The statement highlights that attacks against people with albinism have surged, with children being the primary targets. It recalls that in 2015, in the Rukwa region, a six-year-old boy named Baraka Cosmas was attacked by unknown assailants who cut off his hand. The LHRC explains that despite various individuals being sentenced to death for these murders, such acts continue in Tanzania.

The LHRC has called on the government to establish comprehensive protective systems at all levels, from hamlets, villages, wards, districts, and regions, to the national level, to ensure the safety of people with albinism and enable them to enjoy their lives like others in the community.

Read the full article here

The E-border system prevented the entry of 1,233 unqualified visitors in Tanzania

Over 1,000 unqualified visitors have been prevented from entering Tanzania using the Electronic Border System (e-border) from January 2022 to May 2024.

This was revealed yesterday, June 4, 2024, by the Minister of Home Affairs, Hamad Masauni, while responding to a question from the Member of Parliament for Kigoma Town, Kilumbe Ng’enda, who inquired about the government’s plan to control illegal immigrants at the borders before they enter the country.

Masauni stated that the government is continuing to install the electronic border system (e-border), which helps in controlling unqualified visitors before they enter the country. Using this system, the government has managed to prevent a total of 1,223 visitors from entering the country for various reasons from January 2022 to May 2024.

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