Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on March 17, 2025.
‘Long Overdue’: President Samia Hopeful New National Land Policy Will Enhance Tanzania’s Land Management
President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Monday launched the revised Tanzania’s National Land Policy of 1995, 2023 Edition, noting that the new document will improve national efforts in managing the land and its resources in the East African nation.
Speaking during the launching ceremony in the capital Dodoma, the Head of State said that the development of the new policy was “long overdue,” pointing out that its existence will enable the government and other stakeholders to accomplish many with regard to land exploitation and its related resources.
President Samia directed the review of the existing National Land Policy of 1995 immediately after coming to power in March 2021. Hers was a third attempt to review the policy after two previous attempts – in 2010 and 2015 – failed to successfully develop a new land policy for some unclear reasons.
The review process involved a wide array of stakeholders, including farmers and livestock keepers, plantation workers, business people, companies, and religious institutions, who shared their views on what needs to be considered in the review.
During the launching ceremony on Monday, President Samia expressed her optimism that the arrival of the new policy will signal a different future for Tanzania and its ability to benefit fully from the land it has been endowed with as well as its associated resources.
Read the full article here
Voter’s Registration Exercise Launches in Dar, INEC Pleased With Turnout
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) kicked off voter’s registration in the city on Monday, opening a one-week window for unregistered voters in Tanzania’s commercial capital as well as those whose voter’s IDs were lost or damaged to exercise their democratic right for the general elections slated for later this year.
This is the 13th and last round of voter’s registration exercise that the INEC launched in early January this year, which saw citizens from 29 regions across Tanzania Mainland turning up to register to vote in the upcoming general elections, the seventh multiparty election since the system was re-introduced in 1992.
Dar es Salaam residents will have until March 23, 2024, to participate in the exercise, where electoral authorities expect to register a total of 643,420 new voters across all 1,757 voter registration centres in the city, an addition of 96 new centres compared to 1,661 used in 2019/2020.
INEC expects to register a total of 643,420 new voters in Dar es Salaam, which is an 18.7 per cent increase to the 3,427,917 voters currently in the Permanent Voters’ Registry (PVR). After the registration of new voters, INEC expects the number of eligible voters in Dar es Salaam to reach 4,071,337.
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What Does the End of SADC Mission in DRC Mean for Tanzania?
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) met last week, March 13, 2025, and decided to terminate the mandate of its Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMI-DRC). Deployed in December 2023, SAMI-DRC had a peace enforcement mandate and replaced the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF). The EACRF had been forced to withdraw barely a year after deployment due to a dispute over its mandate.
The announcement of SAMI-DRC’s termination did not point to a specific reason. It seems two main factors influenced the decision. Firstly, a realisation that the mission’s mandate had become unattainable due to encirclement and confinement of its troops in various bases. Secondly, the undeniable reality that the DRC lacks a fighting force that could, with minimal support, reverse the gains made by the M23 rebels and their backers.
There is no doubt that the SAMI-DRC has met a humiliating end. The rhetoric is that the coalition in which it was part of was defeated in the battlefield. After the fall of Goma in January, a campaign to humiliate SAMI-DRC forces involved sensational reporting on pregnant South African soldiers, images of SADC troops raising a white flag, and a viral video of an alleged Tanzanian military officer emptying his pockets before possibly crossing a border. The campaign pushed for the withdrawal of SAMI-DRC, and has finally succeeded.
SADC has tried to save face by reiterating a commitment to its Mutual Defence Pact, and implying its willingness to field another peace enforcement operation if the situation in DRC calls for it. It’s hard to see how this promise shields the image of a mission forced to withdraw at a time when the humanitarian crisis remains dire. Nonetheless, domestic politics within Troop Contributing Countries (TCC) made the mission unsustainable. South Africa, the largest contributor, came under internal pressure to withdraw its contingent, while Malawi announced its intention soon after the fall of Goma.
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NSSF Is Yet to Find a Buyer for Its Dege Eco Village Project, Waits for Govt’s Way Forward
It seems that it will take a little longer before the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) will finally be able to dispose of its controversial Dege Eco Village project in Kigamboni in the city after the pension fund failed to cut a deal with the interested buyer.
This was revealed Monday by NSSF director general Masha Mshomba who told journalists in the capital Dodoma that the fund’s talks with the buyer who was willing to pay US$220 million (Sh501 billion) to buy the project ended with nothing.
It will be remembered that Mr Mshomba, during a meeting with editors on September 25, 2023, said that NSSF was “finalising” talks with the buyer, expressing confidence that the pension fund would be able to dispose of the project whose construction stalled for more than seven years since 2016 by no later than October 31, 2023.
“The expectations are to sign the sale agreement before October 31, 2023,” Mr Mshomba said then. “Together with other government authorities, we are now finalising all tender-related procedures, which include bargaining with the prospective buyer.”
Now, nearly twenty months later, Mr Mshomba says the deal couldn’t be signed as the buyer, a company called Hello, failed to honour its early commitment to pay for the project. He didn’t give the full description of the company, including its full legal name or its headquarters.
Read the full article here
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