Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on April 3, 2025.
INEC Announces Job Vacancies for Election Coordinators and Supervisors in Zanzibar
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced job vacancies for officials who will oversee the upcoming general election scheduled to take place later this year in Tanzania Zanzibar.
The positions include two election coordinators, one for Unguja and one for Pemba, Election supervisors for each district, and three assistant election supervisors for each constituency.
A statement issued by the Commission indicated that this is part of the preparations for the general election expected to be held in October 2025, which will involve the election of the President and Members of Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania, as well as ward councilors for Tanzania mainland.
This announcement follows reforms to the electoral laws, including the Independent National Electoral Commission Act No. 2 of 2024. According to the announcement, qualifications for election coordinators include being a civil servant and having experience in election-related matters or voter registration in the permanent voter register.
The Commission has instructed that all applications for these positions should be submitted to INEC offices in Zanzibar, located at Maisara for Unguja and Chakechake for Pemba, from April 3 to April 23, 2025.
In another development, INEC stated that it held a special meeting in Dar es Salaam on April 3, 2025, led by the Chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Hon. Court of Appeal Judge Jacobs Mwambegele.
How CHADEMA Aims to Block Tanzania’s 2025 Elections Without Electoral Reform
The opposition party CHADEMA has revealed that part of its strategy to block Tanzania’s October general elections—without key electoral reforms—includes collecting signatures for a petition that the party intends to present to all international organizations.
The party’s deputy national chairperson (Tanzania Mainland), John Heche, shared the information during an address ahead of Thursday’s meeting between CHADEMA’s national leadership and its parliamentary hopefuls, who had gathered in the city to be “properly briefed” on the party’s ‘No Reforms, No Election’ agenda.
“If we want to run for parliament, each of us must carry this petition to the electorate and help the party secure the over 15 million signatures needed to affirm its stance that current circumstances do not guarantee free and fair elections—and that we refuse to allow vote-rigging,” said Heche, a CHADEMA stalwart.
Mr Heche revealed that the party has already begun collecting signatures from Tanzanians, including during recent political rallies in the country’s southern highland regions. He emphasized that individuals should sign for themselves and that no one should sign on another’s behalf.
“Everywhere we went, people signed for themselves,” Heche, a fierce critic of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and its government, told his fellow 2025 parliamentary hopefuls from across the country.
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Government Assures Stakeholders of Improved Investment Environment
Tanzania’s Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to enhancing the business and investment environment to create a safer and more conducive atmosphere for investors in the country.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam during the launch of the preparations for the Second Phase of the Business and Investment Environment Improvement Plan (MKUMBI II), Majaliwa emphasized the plan’s significance in attracting more investments, improving infrastructure, expanding access to international markets for local products, and enhancing competition and product quality.
“The government will continue to fully cooperate with all stakeholders to achieve the goal of a favorable business and investment climate,” said Majaliwa. “We expect that this plan will greatly contribute to our national productivity and help us achieve our goal of a sustainable middle-income economy.”
Majaliwa urged the MKUMBI II preparation committee to fast-track the plan’s development while calling on stakeholders, especially government institutions, to support the committee. He highlighted that this collaboration would help generate comprehensive recommendations aligned with the National Vision 2050.
On his part, the Minister of State in the President’s Office for Planning and Investment, Professor Kitila Mkumbo, stated that the government’s objective in formulating the plan is to ensure that Tanzania becomes a top destination for business and investment.
“Improving the business and investment environment is a continuous process,” said Mkumbo.
He added that for the economy to grow, the business and investment environment must be regularly reviewed and upgraded, which is why the national expert committee formed for this task has considered current business and investment needs.
The Tanzanian government first launched this initiative in June 2019 to conduct an in-depth analysis of the country’s business environment.
Investigation Confirms World Bank’s ‘Compliance Failures’ in the Bank-Funded REGROW Project in Tanzania
An investigation by the Inspection Panel of the World Bank has confirmed the international lender’s non-compliance with its safeguards and operating procedures in the planning and supervision of a conservation project that is reported to have resulted in “serious harm” to communities.
Approved in 2018, the Tanzania Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW), which the government canceled in November 2024, was a US$150 million project whose objective was to “improve management of natural resources and tourism assets in priority areas of southern Tanzania and to increase access to alternative livelihood activities for targeted communities.”
The Bretton Woods institution launched the investigation into the project in November 2023 following claims that the lender violated its policies in implementing the project, including allowing the involuntary resettlement of indigenous peoples.
On July 20, 2023, two individuals residing in the project area submitted a Request for Inspection to the Bank’s Inspection Panel, an independent mechanism for people and communities who believe they have been, or are likely to be, adversely affected by a World Bank-funded project.
The complaint alleged that Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) had threatened to evict residents from villages within the Ruaha National Park (RUNAPA), used excessive force, and seized cattle.
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Rwanda’s 1994 Genocide Commemoration in Tanzania to Be Held in Dar and Arusha
The High Commission of Rwanda in Tanzania, in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, is set to host a solemn commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi on Monday, April 7, 2025, at Mlimani City Conference Hall in Dar es Salaam.
The event will bring together Rwandans, Tanzanian government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of international organizations for a moment of remembrance, unity, and renewal.
Speaking to journalists at the Embassy of Rwanda in Tanzania on April 3, 2025, General Patrick Nyamvumba, Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, emphasized the significance of honoring the victims and ensuring that the atrocities of 1994 are never forgotten.
“‘Kwibuka,’ which means ‘to remember’ in Kinyarwanda, encapsulates the spirit of this annual commemoration,” he stated. “It is a time to honor the memory of the victims, comfort survivors, and engage the global community in the ongoing commitment to ensuring that genocide never happens again.”
A parallel commemoration will also be held in Arusha at the Arusha International Conference Center (AICC), coordinated by the East African Community Secretariat. As part of the observance, a wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the Genocide Memorial site in Arusha to honor the victims.
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