Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania over the weekend.
CHADEMA Mwanza region reports abduction of youth leader Aman Manengelo
The Mwanza regional chapter of CHADEMA reported on Monday that Aman Manengelo, the secretary of its youth wing at the regional level, has been missing since Friday after being taken by an unknown assailant.
“Search efforts across the Mwanza region are ongoing, but there are no clues about his whereabouts. We urge the Misungwi Police and the Mwanza Regional Police to fully cooperate in ensuring that he is found,” said Mwanza Regional Party Secretary Boniphace Nkobe.
Nkobe explained that Manengelo was abducted on Friday from his home in Misungwi. The kidnappers, who identified themselves as police officers, handcuffed him before taking him to an unknown location.
Mwanza police have denied receiving any reports regarding Manengelo’s alleged abduction but have committed to investigate.
“We don’t have any information yet; we are looking into it,” said Mwanza’s Acting Regional Police Commander, Gidion Msuya, in a phone interview with The Chanzo today.
This incident follows similar cases of abductions involving CHADEMA members. On August 18, 2024, CHADEMA youth leaders Deus Soka and Jacob Mlay were abducted and have not been seen since. According to family members, Soka had been summoned to the police station regarding his missing motorcycle before his disappearance.
Similarly, on July 26, 2024, Dioniz Kipanya, a CHADEMA official from Sumbawanga District, was taken by individuals who also identified themselves as police officers and have not been seen since.
On September 06, 2024, Ali Kibao, a senior advisor and member of the opposition party CHADEMA Secretariat, was abducted, only for his body to be later found, with signs of brutal torture. While the President had ordered an investigation, there has been no information on the matter to date.
Tanzania mining minister warns foreign investors against using small-scale mining licenses
The Minister of Minerals, Antony Mavunde, has barred foreign investors from using small-scale mining licenses to establish operations in the country. Speaking on February 17, 2025, at the Edema Hotel in Morogoro during a session to gather stakeholder feedback on new regulations for guiding the provision of technical support to small-scale miners, Mavunde called for the illegal practice to cease.
“It doesn’t make sense that a foreigner comes in and enters a small-scale miner’s license through a technical assistance agreement, yet the small-scale miners neither benefit nor advance in terms of technology and capital. This was not the intention of the law in setting that condition to develop small-scale miners,” Mavunde argued.
While the law prohibits non-Tanzanians from operating under small-scale mining licenses, an investigation by The Chanzo found that in many areas of Shinyanga and Geita, foreign investors, mostly from China were informally purchasing small-scale mining licenses from Tanzanians and running gold mines as small-scale miners.
This practice is facilitated by Article 3 of the Mining Act (2019), which allows license holders to contract foreign entities for technical assistance. Mavunde warned that small-scale miners who sell their licenses risk having them reclaimed by the government. He also urged regional mining officers to conduct thorough inspections in their areas to enforce compliance.
TZS 8.2 trillion disbursed in student Loans as HESLB marks 20 Years
The Tanzanian government has disbursed approximately TZS 8.2 trillion in student loans for higher education since the establishment of the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) 20 years ago, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa announced.
HESLB was founded in 2005 to make higher education more accessible after the introduction of a cost-sharing policy in the early 1990s, which created financial challenges for many students.
Despite some challenges, HESLB has supported over 830,000 students, particularly those pursuing courses in national priority fields such as education and health sciences.
“Our leaders worked hard to ensure that the Loans Board effectively strengthens the higher education financing system,” said Prime Minister Majaliwa, who represented the President at the anniversary event held at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Center in Dar es Salaam.
Education Minister Prof. Adolf Mkenda highlighted that the HESLB budget has increased from TZS 464 billion in 2021 to TZS 731 billion in 2024, allowing more students to benefit. He also noted that several scholarship programs have been launched, with an allocation of around TZS 8.9 billion.
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.
