Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on April 29, 2025.
Tanzania Government Says It’s Avoiding Past Mistakes in Mining as It Negotiates LNG Project
Tanzania’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Doto Biteko, has said that the delay in signing agreements to kick off the liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing project in the country is due to ongoing negotiations between the government and investors.
The aim, he said, is to secure better contracts that avoid the mistakes made in earlier deals within the extractive sector.
While concluding the budget debate for the Ministry of Minerals, Biteko explained that after the initial negotiations were completed, the draft agreements were reviewed by the Attorney General’s office. The review identified a few areas that needed adjustments to ensure the contracts are stronger and more beneficial for the country.
“This country has a history of entering into contracts that have been widely criticized. We’ve learned a lot through our journey since we began engaging in extractive industries,” said Biteko. “There are several key issues that must be resolved before the agreements can be signed.”
He stressed that it would be unacceptable to Tanzanians if, in such a massive project valued at over US$42 billion local content is not prioritized, if all insurance services are outsourced abroad with no Tanzanian participation, and if domestic use of natural gas remains as low as only 3%.
“It is now the right time to correct the mistakes we made in the past,” Biteko emphasized.
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ACT Wazalendo: Can Tanzania’s Left-Leaning Party Overcome the Odds to Challenge CCM in 2025?
Preparations for Tanzania’s October 2025 general election are underway, with the government, political parties, civil society groups, religious organisations, and other stakeholders engaged in electoral and civic activities to ensure the process meets democratic standards.
In her message commemorating the 61st anniversary of the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on April 26, 2025, President Samia Suluhu Hassan reaffirmed her administration’s commitment to upholding “law and order” throughout the electoral process to ensure “free and fair” elections. The Head of State also urged citizens to participate “actively”—both as voters and candidates.
Despite President Samia’s repeated assurances, many Tanzanian political actors and observers fear that the upcoming elections—for the presidency, Members of Parliament, councillors, as well as Zanzibar’s president and House of Representatives—may fall short of democratic standards, citing authorities’ apparent reluctance to implement crucial legal and regulatory reforms.
The President’s pledges of free and fair elections stand in stark contrast to the government’s crackdown on CHADEMA, Tanzania’s main opposition party. Its chairperson, Tundu Lissu, remains detained at Ukonga Prison on treason charges, while police routinely block the party from holding rallies. CHADEMA’s leaders and members face persistent harassment, arbitrary arrests, and in some cases, even torture.
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What Tanzania Can Learn from the US–China Trade War
Over the past few weeks, my Instagram and X feeds have been flooded with updates on the China–US trade drama. What started as random bits of content on my timeline quickly drew me in, and before I knew it, I was deep into news reports, podcasts, and anything that could help me make sense of what was going on.
This unexpected rabbit hole turned out to be a massive eye-opener for me, especially when it comes to power and leverage between these two global superpowers. I’m not here to pick a side (and even if I had, that’s not what this article is about).
But what kept ringing in my head throughout this process was “what does this power struggle mean for a country like Tanzania?” Are we standing to benefit or lose anything from all this? I don’t have all the answers, but join me in unpacking these questions as we reflect together.
When superpowers clash, it’s easy for the rest of us to sit back and watch like it’s a football match. The ongoing trade war between the United States and China may seem distant from daily life here in Tanzania, but make no mistake – there’s a lot we can learn from it. It is not just about tariffs or tech bans. It’s about power, influence and strategy.
And for a country like Tanzania, watching how these two giants navigate offers tangible takeaways, especially when it comes to the power of leverage, having a strong political stand, and recognising the role of the people in shaping a country’s direction.
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In Tanzania, It Appears That Authorities’ Best Strategy to Maintain Peace Is to Break It into Pieces
Sometimes, one of the best hopes when facing up to authoritarian regimes is to depend on their ability to shoot themselves in the foot at critical moments. In some cases, such as in “the greatest country on earth” still aspiring to make itself great again (what a contradiction!) under its omniscient no-one-knows-about-fentanyl-more-than-I-do president, it is more of a self machine-gunning, while in other cases it is more of serial bursts of gunfire.
The latter seems to be our case. Time and again, the wrong people are caught at the wrong time, and after a lot of persecution of the accused and massive waste of time and money, the charges are dropped and the offenders are cleared or released and expected to continue with their lives as if nothing had happened.
No doubt, the architects of such schemes might argue that theirs was persecution rather than prosecution, to reduce others to silence for fear of what might also happen to them too.
I guess that it does work with some people, but it does nothing for the image of a government that tries to present a peace-loving and democratic face to its own citizens and, more importantly, to the foreigners it wishes to woo. If you want money from a boyfriend, it doesn’t look good if you are kicking your kid at the same time, however troublesome you might consider the kid to be.
And selfie foot-shooting is back in the news again. You put an opposition leader in prison for daring to pronounce No Reforms, No Elections. You claim that this is not only absurd since our country is so peacefully formed that no reform is necessary, and indeed it is “treasonous” even to question the greatness of our peace. Fine. We await the case that will prove your point.
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One Response
“It is now the right time to correct the mistakes we made in the past,” Biteko emphasized.
What were the mistakes? Who were responsible? Were they made answerable? Are we sure there will be no more mistakes? Don’t try to take us for a ride sir!!