Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on May 7, 2025.
Tanzania’s Former Prime Minister and First Vice President, David Cleopa Msuya, Has Passed Away
The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has announced the death of former Prime Minister and First Vice President, David Cleopa Msuya, which occurred on May 7, 2025, at Mzena Hospital in Dar es Salaam.
President Samia stated that Msuya passed away due to heart-related illness, for which he had been receiving treatment at various times at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute and hospitals in the London, United Kingdom.
Msuya, who died at the age of 94, served as the Prime Minister of Tanzania during two non-consecutive terms—first under the late President Julius Nyerere’s administration, and later under the late President Al Hassan Mwinyi.
His first term as Prime Minister was from 1980 to 1983, and he later held the same position again from 1994 to 1995. During this second term, he also served as the country’s First Vice President.
Msuya’s political journey began in 1972 after years of service in government. He had completed his studies at Makerere University in 1955 and began his career as a community development officer. In 1964, he started serving as a permanent secretary in various ministries before being appointed as a cabinet minister.
He was first appointed Minister of Finance in 1972, and later served in the Ministry of Industry, where he held leadership roles in different periods until 1994.
He is remembered for his significant contributions in 1977 as Minister of Industry, during which he played a key role in helping Tanzania address the industrial production gap caused by the collapse of the East African Community and the closure of the Tanzania-Kenya border. That dispute had disrupted Tanzania’s access to essential goods that had been imported from Kenya under the East African Community framework.
Continue reading here.
EU Parliament Debates the Arrest of Tanzanian Opposition Leader Tundu Lissu
Members of the European Union parliament have on Wednesday, May 07, 2025, debated a motion for a resolution ‘on the arrest and risk of execution of Tundu Lissu, Chair of Chadema, the main opposition party in Tanzania.’ The motion was adopted as a joint motion for resolution and is scheduled for a vote today, May 8, 2025
The first member to contribute and also one of the authors, Reinhold Lopatka, from Austria, related the correlation between investment and the rule of law.
“The EU contributes hundreds of millions of Euros to Tanzania through various initiatives. We have to be very clear that any European cooperation investment has to be tied to progress in the area of the rule of law and human rights,” Lopatka argued.
Jan-Christoph Oetjen of Germany expressed disillusionment with the political trajectory in Tanzania,
“We had high hopes here in the house after Samia Suluhu Hassan became president of Tanzania. We hoped for reforms in the country, but it appears that it is not a positive way that Tanzania is taking at the moment,” Jan-Christoph Oetjen said.
He continued: “We request that the Tanzanian authorities free him, free Tundu Lissu, and organize free and fair elections, to let opposition parties participate equally in those elections.
The EU is one of Tanzania’s longstanding partners and the region that receives the highest volume of Tanzania’s imports compared to any other export destination. Tanzania also receives significant budgetary support from EU members in the form of grants. Recently, there has been an increase in loans from EU-based financial institutions
Catarina Vieira of the Netherlands, in her submission, urged EU embassies to do more, including following the trials.
“EU can and should do more; we should make any future EU investment in Tanzania conditional upon improvements of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Today this parliament stands with Mr.Lissu and with all of those unjustly deprived of freedom in Tanzania, to them we say you are not alone,” said Catarina Vieira.
In concluding the debate, the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, highlighted the progress that Tanzania and the EU have made in the partnership and emphasized that bilateral engagement will continue.
Continue reading here
E-Learning Africa Annual Conference Launches in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with Spotlight on Tech in Education
More than 20 ministers and representatives from various African countries are in Dar es Salaam to attend the eLearning Africa Annual Conference and Exhibition, taking place over three days from May 7 to 9, 2025, at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC).
Speaking at the event, Tanzania’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Adolf Mkenda, said this 18th International Conference & Exhibition on Digital Education, Training & Skills Development brings together diverse stakeholders with the goal of exchanging ideas and experiences on how digital systems are being used in education and advancing digital development.
“On one hand, we are using e-learning for teaching, and on the other, we are using this technology to develop various products that address the challenges we face,” said Prof. Mkenda.
The conference brings together a diverse network of educators, trainers, technology specialists, policymakers, development experts, and investors to shape the future of education across the African continent.
Continue reading here
Bank of Tanzania auctions USD 35 million for FX boost
The Bank of Tanzania has announced the auction of USD 35 million sold at the rate of TZS 2697.17. The Bank highlighted that a total of 21 Banks participated in the auction, with 11 Banks winning the auction.
The announcement is part of the measures undertaken by the Bank to reform its foreign exchange sector, measures which are part of the IMF program, which, among other things, required the Bank to be transparent in its intervention in the market, and only intervene where necessary.
Due to seasonal fluctuation, Tanzania has been facing exchange rate pressure, which eased last year, but resumed again. However, compared to early last year, most of the retailers and suppliers have dollars for exchange.
New LHRC Report Reveals Factors Behind Tanzanian Women’s Vulnerability to ‘Predatory’ Lending—A ‘Major Emerging Human Rights Threat’
A report by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) has urgently called for the government and stakeholders to expand women’s access to capital to protect them from predatory lending schemes, which the non-governmental organisation describes as a “major emerging human rights threat” in Tanzania.
Launched on May 5, 2025, the LHRC’s 23rd annual human rights report highlights the alarming spread of predatory lending schemes—locally known as mikopo kausha damu—which disproportionately target women of all ages as well as young men.
These loans, provided by individuals, microfinance institutions, and other digital lenders, are controversial due to their allegedly high interest rates and penalties, loan terms critics call “unfair, deceptive, and abusive,” and reported use of threats and violence to enforce repayment. The LHRC’s report urges stricter enforcement of microfinance regulations to address these concerns.
The report, which assesses Tanzania’s state of human rights in 2024, revealed that 70 per cent of respondents from the twenty regions of Tanzania Mainland surveyed characterised predatory lending as a problem affecting them personally and their communities, necessitating urgent interventions to address the issue.
The most severe impact is property seizure, followed by financial distress, public shaming and humiliation, and family instability. The other consequences include sextortion, social stigma, and child neglect. Some victims reported cases of mental health problems, such as stress and depression, leaving them vulnerable to extreme consequences such as suicide
Continue reading here
An African Journey to Ukraine 1
Before Russia’s war in Ukraine began, many Africans had not given any thought to Ukraine. It was one of those places often blurred in our collective consciousness, lumped with other former Soviet states, which existed in the shadow of their larger neighbour. For most of us, Russia was the singular identity of the USSR.
Yet, as the war unfolded, we found ourselves bombarded with images of bombed-out cities and streams of refugees. Suddenly, Ukraine demanded our attention. For many of us, it was no longer a question of where Ukraine was but what it represented—and, inevitably, whose side we were on.
Unlike many of my peers, I have been hearing about Ukraine since I was little because my father was among the tens of thousands of African students who studied in the USSR during its Soviet heyday. For six years, he lived in Odessa, studying advanced engineering in electronics and communications.
He also came back with a diploma in philosophy and communism, flattering himself to be an atheist: education in the USSR was dubbed to be free, but that doesn’t mean it had no price. All in all, I grew up hearing about Kyiv and Odessa long before the war, with my father’s stories woven into my childhood memories.
But in Kiswahili, my mother tongue, there is only one word for both Russia and the USSR: Urusi. So, for us, Ukraine was merely part of the vast Urusi monolith. The idea that Ukraine was its own country, distinct from Russia, didn’t register. Even today, this mental map of the world persists: therefore, regardless of how hard I try to condition my mind, I will always think of my father as having studied in Urusi, not Ukraine.
Continue reading 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 you can support us (here). And if you have any questions or comments, please drop a word to our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
