Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania over the weekend.
Road Accident Claims 38 Lives in Same, Kilimanjaro
Thirty-eight people have died following a tragic accident involving two buses that collided and caught fire in the Sabasaba area, Same Ward, Same District, Kilimanjaro Region, along the Moshi-Tanga highway on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at around 5:00 PM.
The vehicles involved were a Fuso bus with registration number T179CWL, owned by Channel Company, which was traveling from Arusha, and a Mitsubishi Rosa minibus with registration number T199EFX, owned by Mwami, which was coming from Same and carrying family members heading to a wedding in Moshi.
According to a statement from the Police Force, the cause of the accident was a burst right-front tire on the Fuso bus, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. As a result, the bus collided head-on with the Mitsubishi minibus, and both vehicles caught fire shortly after impact.
In addition to the fatalities, 28 people were injured — 13 men and 15 women. Of these, 22 have been treated and discharged, while the remaining six (five men and one woman) are still receiving treatment at KCMC Referral Hospital in Moshi.
The bodies of 33 victims have been preserved at KCMC Hospital, while the other 5 bodies are being held at Same District Hospital for DNA testing and other procedures to help identify the deceased.
This road accident is among the most devastating to occur this month. On June 8, 2025, another serious accident occurred in Mbeya Region involving a cargo truck that crashed into passenger vehicles, resulting in 28 deaths.
The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has expressed her condolences following the tragedy and urged all drivers nationwide to exercise caution and adhere to road safety regulations.
Prayers, Beatings, and Tear Gas: Police Disperse Worshippers of the Ufufuo na Uzima Church, Arrest 52
Sundays are typically quiet days in Tanzania, with low traffic and a strong cultural emphasis on worship for many Christians. However, for the past three weeks, Sundays have been intense for worshippers of the Glory of Christ Tanzania Church, popularly known as Ufufuo na Uzima.
The 31-year-old church was deregistered on June 2, 2025, following a press conference and a subsequent sermon by its leader, Bishop Josephat Gwajima, in which he condemned abductions. In the deregistration letter, the government stated that the church was being deregistered due to remarks by its leader that allegedly sought to pit the government against its citizens.
Since the church’s deregistration, worshippers have continued gathering outside their main church premises, organizing prayer sessions and offering each other encouragement. However, on Sunday, June 29, 2025, tensions escalated as police moved in with batons and tear gas to disperse the gathering.
Police had already surrounded the area early in the morning, but at around 12 p.m., the situation intensified when more than 200 worshippers arrived, holding posters calling for freedom of worship and denouncing abductions.
Speaking to The Chanzo on June 26, 2025, the Church’s Deputy Secretary, Bishop Maximilian Kadutu, emphasized that prayers does not require government registration.
“Our people have been ordered not to stop praying, as is customary,” said Machumu, referring to the Bible. “We believe that for our prayers to reach God, we must meet together.”
“If they had followed proper procedures in the deregistration, including giving a 14-day notice, it would have been easier for church leaders to prepare the worshippers. We were not given ample time, so you should expect more people to come every Sunday,” Machumu added.
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Tanzanian Researchers Develop Step-by-Step Guide to Impactful Science Communication
Two Tanzanian researchers have developed a three-phase framework to help scientists communicate their findings effectively and drive real-world impact beyond academia.
The three-phase approach, formally named the ‘Publish, Tell, and Show’ (PTS) framework, was published as a conceptual paper in the Tanzania Journal of Sociology—a publication of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM)—on Sunday, titled: The Publish, Tell, Show (PTS) Framework for Effective Research Communication: A Step-by-Step Approach to Maximizing Societal Impact in Tanzania.
Developed by Dr Syriacus Buguzi, a science communication specialist and journalist, and Dr Filbert Nyinondi, an informatics lecturer at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), the framework challenges researchers to integrate effective science communication as a fundamental component of their research process, according to a press release.
Dr Buguzi, who conceptualised the PTS Framework to address this critical gap, says: “It dawned on me after several encounters with researchers who struggled to understand research communication beyond traditional journal publication that something fundamental needed to be done to transition the thinking from traditional academic dissemination to broader, world-impact communication.”
“That’s how I began conceptualising a process… I started with what the researchers already do best: Publish. Then, I went further—and a year later, I figured out the next step… From Publish, it was already clear to me that the researchers needed to undergo another process. Then I added two letters, T and S, to form PTS, representing Publish, Tell, and Show.”
On his part, Dr Nyinondi said that the PTS framework is it’s a well-thought-out process, with relevant actions needed at each stage to enhance research communication.
“It’s not just a game of adding letters,” he said. “Researchers have a crucial role to play in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. By breaking down the barriers between academia and the public, and by embracing effective communication strategies like the PTS process, researchers can ensure that their valuable insights contribute to a more informed and equitable society.”
Prof Karim Manji, Professor Emeritus in Paediatrics and Child Health at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), is one of the academics who reviewed the framework. He hailed it, saying it’s a “great concept” while distilling the essence of effective research into action.
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INEC Seeks Temporary Polling Officials for Upcoming October Elections
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced temporary job vacancies for polling station officials for the upcoming elections scheduled for October 2025.
The announced positions include Polling Station Supervisors, Assistant Polling Supervisors, and Voter Guides (Clerks).
The upcoming October election will involve the election of the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Members of Parliament, and Councillors for mainland Tanzania.
In a statement released on Saturday, June 28, 2025, INEC stated that the deadline for submitting applications is July 11, 2025. Applicants are required to submit their applications to the assistant election supervisors at the ward level.
The qualifications for applicants include being a citizen of Tanzania, aged 18 years and above, not being a leader of any political party, residing in the ward for which they are applying, and having a minimum education level of Ordinary Level secondary education.
This Court Ruling Sets an Example for Us All to Follow
A few days ago, the Court of Appeal issued a significant judgement, one that pushes back on recent legal changes that had restricted Tanzanian citizens’ constitutional rights. As Twaweza’s new Executive Director, I celebrate this judgement, and I look forward to working with civil society, government, and others, on further strengthening our institutions and norms that uphold good governance and the rule of law.
Let’s start by looking at the court’s decision. Sometimes, these kinds of judgements are so complicated that nobody other than the most highly-trained lawyers has any chance of understanding them. Fortunately for the rest of us, this is not one of those times. So what did the court say?
Well, it concluded that several changes made in 2020 to the Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act (BRADEA) were unconstitutional. The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania (in Article 26) states clearly that citizens have the right to take legal action to protect the Constitution – often known as public interest litigation. In other words, if the government does something that is against the Constitution, then any citizen has the right to challenge the government in court.
The amended BRADEA effectively took away that right, saying you could only take legal action in situations where you were personally affected. But as the judges noted, this was not what was intended when the Constitution was written, as it has a separate provision (in Article 30) for situations where citizens’ own rights have been violated.
The judgement went a little further than this, striking down provisions in BRADEA that put obstacles in the way of legal challenges and barred direct lawsuits against senior officials like the President and Chief Justice, as well as various other things of significance. The court ended its judgement by directing parliament to amend BRADEA accordingly and stated that if they do not do so within 12 months, those parts of the law will no longer have legal effect.
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