Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.
Germany ‘sorry’ for colonial wrongs it committed in Tanzania: President
Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday apologised to Tanzanians for what the Western European nation’s colonists did to indigenous people of the East African nation during their brutal colonisation that lasted three decades.
Mr Steinmeier pleaded for forgiveness on behalf of his country while speaking to the descendants of Chief Songea Mbano in Songea, a district in the Ruvuma region, southern Tanzania, whom the Germans hanged, alongside 66 other indigenous leaders of the Wangoni tribe, after he refused to betray his people.
He was the Wangoni leader in the Maji-Maji War, an indigenous uprising against German colonial forces that occurred between 1905 and 1907. Chief Songea was so influential and courageous that colonists wanted him to support their cause, but he refused to betray his people, leading to his cruel murder.
Full story here.
UK warns its citizens in Tanzania against a looming terrorist attack
The UK High Commission in Tanzania has warned British nationals in the East African nation against a terror attack, telling them that “terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Tanzania in the near future.”
In a travel advice published Tuesday, it advises UK citizens against travelling to “any area within 20km of the Tanzanian border with the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique, due to attacks by groups linked with Islamic extremism.”
The area is infamous for protracted fighting between Mozambican/Tanzanian authorities and terrorist groups linked with the international terror group Islamic State.
The fighting in the northern part of Mozambique has split across the border with Tanzania, which is contributing troops to the country under the umbrella of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Full story here.
Universal Health Care Bill passed in parliament
The government on Wednesday tabled its Universal Health Insurance (UHI) Bill in the parliament once again, this this time around government has managed to convince lawmakers to pass the bill aimed at ensuring that all Tanzanians have access to affordable health services.
The bill was tabled in the parliament for the first time in November 2022, but the parliament refused to proceed with it, tasking the government to engage more stakeholders in an effort aimed to make the bill serve the interest of many people.
One of the issues that convinced lawmakers to block the bill was the bill’s lack of clarity on how the government was going to fund the initiative and ensure its sustainability and that it met the intended goal.
But presenting the bill on Wednesday, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu told lawmakers that the government has resolved to fund the initiative through taxes collected from strategic revenue sources, hoping that would give the law the muscles it needs to meet its goals.
The sources include taxes imposed on cosmetics, spirits, and motorcycles, to name but a few of them. Others are taxes collected from sports betting, carbonated drinks, and revenues collected from mobile money transactions.
“We’re grateful to the Finance Minister [Mwigulu Nchemba] to allow revenues collected from these sources to go and fund this initiative,” Mwalimu, who doubles as Tanga Ubarn MP (Chama cha Mapinduzi – CCM), said in the parliament.
Mwalimu said about 15.8 million Tanzanians, equivalent to 3.6 households across Tanzania Mainland, stand to benefit from the universal health insurance scheme, which will do away with many complaints of people struggling to access health care services in the country.
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