Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on September 10, 2024.
Voter Registration for Civic Polls Begins Today, Citizens Urged to Participate
Today, Friday, October 11, until October 20, 2024, the process of registering eligible Tanzanians in the voter list for the upcoming Local Government elections will take place across all regions in the country.
The election, scheduled for November 27, 2024, is overseen by the Ministry of State, President’s Office, Regional Administration, and Local Government (PO-RALG), and it will be conducted at the local, village, and sub-village levels.
Speaking through the media yesterday, the Director of Information Services and Chief Government Spokesperson, Thobias Makoba, announced that approximately 80,812 registration centers have been established so far.
Regarding the qualifications for those eligible to register and vote, Makoba stated: “First, one must be a Tanzanian citizen, secondly, be 18 years or older, and also a resident of the respective village, sub-village or street, as well as being of sound mind.”
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Tanzania’s Foreign Minister Urges African Leaders to Tackle the Root Cause of Conflicts in Africa: ‘Global Competing Interests Over Its Resources’
Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Mahamoud Kombo, argues that for Africa to resolve its ongoing conflicts, it must address what he believes to be the root cause: global competing interests over the continent’s resources.
Kombo made these remarks during a panel discussion on October 05, 2024, at the three-day African Peace and Security Dialogue organized by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation in Gauteng, South Africa.
“If you look at all these conflicts, the source is differences of interest, especially international competing interests over resources,” Kombo argued during the discussion.
He also challenged fellow African leaders to recognize the continent’s wealth and take greater control of its affairs.
“We as Africans, first of all, don’t know about our wealth. We don’t know how many minerals we have. Many other nations outside Africa have more statistics about the resources in Africa than we do,” Kombo said.
Read the full story here
‘I Will Never Heal’: Revenge Porn Victims in Zanzibar Speak About Their Struggle
At just 23, she has withdrawn from all the activities that people her age typically enjoy. She no longer goes out, has moved away from the city, her parents have disowned her, and she has abandoned her long-held dream of becoming a teacher.
All of this came crashing down after her ex-partner published intimate videos of her on social media. For *Hafia, the experience was devastating.
“I didn’t know he was recording me,” Hafia, a tall, light-skinned girl dressed in a black abaya and green scarf, recounts, her face lowered. “After we broke up and went our separate ways, three months later, I found our intimate video circulating in online groups.”
“Everyone sent it to me, and there was no way to deny it because it was me. What hurt me the most was that the video didn’t show my partner’s face, so all the shame fell on me and my family,” she continued.
“I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about whether I should commit suicide or run away from home. I remember my mother saying, ‘Making it a secret wasn’t enough for you; you had to keep evidence.’ Those words hurt me deeply, and I felt like my life was over.” Her father, a devout Muslim scholar, disowned her and kicked her out of the house.
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Why Bank of Tanzania’s Boost to Gold Reserves Is Crucial Now More Than Ever
With growing economic uncertainties driven by major global economies and ongoing geopolitical tensions, from Ukraine to the Middle East and the Far East, it has become evident that underdeveloped nations, which are often dependents, suffer the most when disruptions occur.
These disruptions typically leave underdeveloped countries vulnerable to severe economic instability, particularly in the form of inflation and currency depreciation, both of which significantly hinder growth. This reality suggests that robust domestic measures, ranging from fiscal to monetary policies, are essential to navigate the effects of such disruptions.
As one of these underdeveloped countries, Tanzania is not immune to global disruptions. A clear example is the dollar crisis the country has been experiencing since early 2023, primarily characterised by a shortage of dollars, which are vital for international trade, while the Tanzanian shilling depreciated, making imports more expensive.
The dollar crisis disrupted many economic activities, particularly since Tanzania relies heavily on imported goods for consumption and production. This prompted the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) to adopt measures such as limiting dollar allocations for imports and injecting some of its reserves into circulation to ease the shortage.
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Stories of Vulnerable Women on Death Row Show Why Tanzania Must Abolish Mandatory Death Penalty
In 2012, Rose Malle, an 18-year-old woman from Moshi, Kilimanjaro, found herself in prison, facing the possibility of a death sentence. She had been accused of killing a bodaboda driver, and in December 2015, a court sentenced her to death for the driver’s murder.
But the police had arrested the wrong person—Rose bore no responsibility for the man’s death. Nevertheless, she spent years in prison—two of them on death row—in horrendous and overcrowded conditions, lacking access to medical care and enduring immense stigma from other prisoners and guards because of her death sentence.
In 2017, Rose was finally acquitted and released after spending five years in prison for a crime she had nothing to do with. But there are many other women serving death sentences in Tanzania today who haven’t been as lucky.
Ghati Mwita, a 66-year-old survivor of gender-based violence, has spent the last 15 years in prison, convicted of murder for the accidental death of a fisherman. Even though witnesses gave inconsistent and contradictory accounts of what happened, and a jury initially returned a not guilty verdict, a judge overrode their recommendation and sentenced Ghati to death.
Ghati, who is elderly and suffers from significant health problems, is at risk of dying in prison because the legal system has continually failed her.
Read the full article here
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