Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania over the weekend.
ZEC Finalizes Election Preparations as Ballot Papers Arrive in Zanzibar
The Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) has received ballot papers ahead of the general election scheduled to take place in Zanzibar on October 28 and 29 this year — marking the completion of all key logistical preparations for the polls.
Speaking at the Commission’s headquarters in Maisara on October 19, 2025, ZEC Director of Elections Thabit Idarous Faina said the arrival of the ballot papers represents a major milestone in the election preparations, confirming that the Commission is now fully ready to proceed smoothly and efficiently with the remaining stages of the process.
Faina said the ballot papers were printed following a competitive tender process that involved four experienced companies: Lebone Litho Printers (PTY) LTD of Johannesburg, Uniprinter of Durban in South Africa, China Electronics Shenzhen Company (CES) of China, and the Zanzibar Government Printing Agency (ZGP).
“The procurement was conducted through a restricted tender, which is not publicly advertised but instead targets specific qualified bidders according to established institutional criteria and standards,” Faina said.
He added that the printing exercise cost TSh 908,327,300, which is below the allocated budget of TSh 1,245,592,000, resulting in savings of over TSh 300 million without compromising the quality of the work.
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Tanzanian Opposition Leader John Heche Blocked From Exiting the Country to Attend Raila Odinga’s Funeral
The Vice Chairperson of Tanzania’s main opposition party, CHADEMA, John Heche, has been blocked by Tanzanian immigration authorities at the Sirari One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) today, October 18, 2025, as he was heading to Kenya to attend the funeral of the former Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga.
The party had announced on October 17, 2025, that a delegation of three people, including Godbless Lema, a member of the party’s Congress, and Boniface Jacob, Chairperson of the party’s Pwani Region, would attend the funeral.
“I am at the Isibania One-Stop Border, and they have stopped me from traveling without any valid reason. They claim that I have a case in Tanzania, so I am not allowed to travel,” Heche lamented. “I asked if they have the case number, but they don’t. I asked if they have any letters from the court, but they don’t have.”
While the party’s plan to attend the funeral was announced on Friday, the party leader, Tundu Lissu, who is currently in detention following his treason charges, had tasked Heche to ensure that the party is represented in Kenya. Lissu used a few minutes during his trial session to emphasise that they must show up.
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BoT, Government Refute Money-Printing Allegations to Finance Election Campaigns
The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has issued a statement refuting claims circulating on social media that it has been on a money-printing spree to finance the ongoing election campaigns.
“There have been misleading reports circulating on social media alleging that the Bank of Tanzania has printed and distributed money to finance the elections, while others are urging the public to withdraw their funds from some commercial banks,” the BoT statement released on October 17, 2025, reads.
“I wish to inform all citizens that these reports are false and should be disregarded,” Central Bank Governor Emmanuel Tutuba said in the statement.
“The Bank of Tanzania continues to effectively implement monetary policy, maintaining low inflation (an average of 3.3 percent for the first ten months of 2025), robust economic growth (projected at 6 percent in 2025), and a reduced current account deficit to 2.4 percent of GDP as of September 2025,” the statement continued.
During the ruling party’s rallies on Saturday and Sunday, October 19, 2025, the Minister of Finance, Mwigulu Nchemba, echoed the BoT’s position.
“There have been attempts by people to mislead, and I want to tell Tanzanians that these people have bad intentions for our country. I heard they are saying that the government has run out of money and is printing money,” Nchemba said during a campaign rally in Katavi on October 18.
“First, we have reserves of more than 16 trillion. Second, there isn’t a single country that simply prints its own money to use, printing money has its own procedures; from start to actual printing, it can take up to two years. How would you be able to print money after entering into an election?” Nchemba continued.
Money printing is an old economic term that refers to issuing new money into the economy. In modern economies, this does not necessarily mean printing physical notes and coins, it can involve the central bank providing direct advances to the government or purchasing government bonds. However, excessive money creation can lead to inflation and a depreciation of the currency’s value.
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Op-Ed; Trust, Power, and Markets: The Hidden Faultlines of Vision 2050’s Climate Promises
As a sustainable development professional with over two decades of experience across three continents, I was very excited when I laid my eyes on Tanzania’s new National Development Vision 2050. There it was, clear and bold: an entire strategic pillar devoted to “Environmental Integrity and Climate Change Resilience.”
Finally, after years of floods washing away bridges, extended droughts decimating livestock, and unpredictable rains tormenting farmers, our leaders had elevated climate change to the very heart of national ambition.
For a brief moment, I smiled. I thought: Yes, at last the message has landed.
But then, as I set the pages aside, memories came flooding back. Faces from the Rufiji delta—the very people I wrote about not long ago—rose in my mind. The fisherfolk whose houses are repeatedly swallowed by floodwaters. The women bent double in the paddies, planting rice in soils poisoned by creeping saltwater. The young men and women who stare blankly at horizons, wondering if their only future is to migrate inland.
Their reality is not written in polished documents. It is written in soil, in water, in scars. And so, from their vantage point, I reflect on Vision 2050’s climate aspirations: what it promises, what it risks repeating, and what it dares not confront.
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Op-Ed; Farewell, Jane Goodall, as We Honour the Memory of Mwalimu Nyerere
Once again, it is October. Tuesday marked exactly 26 years since the founding father of this nation, Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, passed away on October 14, 1999, at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. I was then in my first year of law studies, and I recall vividly the sombre mood that gripped the nation during the weeks of his hospitalisation.
The final announcement by President Benjamin Mkapa remains etched in my memory. Echoing Jawaharlal Nehru’s words upon the death of Mahatma Gandhi, President Mkapa declared that a light which had shone brightly upon this land and beyond had been extinguished, leaving us in darkness.
Like Nehru, President Mkapa assured the nation that we would be guided by the foundations laid by Mwalimu, just as India was guided by Gandhi’s. It is also worth noting that Mwalimu was himself a recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize.
Many artists comforted the nation through song, but the most notable was Captain John Komba. Throughout the mourning period and beyond, his music captured the nation’s grief. One line from his songs translates as: “He was with us throughout our struggles… where should we go now to seek guidance?”
Articles were written and speeches made, with tributes and homage pouring in from across the country, the continent, and the world. His legacy is so vast it cannot be contained in a single article, let alone one book.
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