Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here once again to bring you all the big stories that broke in Tanzania on Monday, July 12, 2021.

Samia holds teleconference with European Council’s president

President Samia Suluhu Hassan held a teleconference meeting with the President of the European Council Mr Charles Michel in the capital Dodoma yesterday where among other things the Tanzanian leader pleaded with her European counterpart to support the East African nation’s efforts in combating the global coronavirus pandemic and its associated impacts.

The Head of State’s latest pleading for help comes as the government reports that Tanzania has a total of 408 new cases of COVID-19 as of July 8, with 284 of them being on oxygen therapy.

Since assuming the presidency on March 19, 2021, President Samia has pursued a science-based approach to combating the deadly disease. In April this year, the Head of State formed a committee of experts that has since then been advising her on best measures to take to contain the spread of the disease, including allowing the importation of COVID-19 vaccine into the country.

According to a statement released by the director of presidential communications Mr Jaffar Haniu yesterday, President Samia said she would submit the government’s coronavirus vaccination plan to the European Council and see how EU’s governments can support it. Among other things, the plan addresses issues of the number of people expected to take the voluntary coronavirus jabs; types of COVID-19 vaccines to be used; and the groups of people prioritized to receive the shots.

On his part, Mr Michel congratulated President Samia for the efforts taken by her administration to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country, assuring her of the European Council’s supports towards the efforts to contain the disease as well as in other sectors of Tanzania’s economy.

The relationship between Tanzania and the EU have faced some turbulence over the recent years, which saw a recall of the EU ambassador in 2018, with the EU delegation citing pressure from the Tanzania government. EU remains one of the blocks that Tanzania exports the most, for example in 2018 Tanzania exported products worth sh1.15 trillion to the EU, making EU the third block behind SADC sh 2.3 trillion and India sh1.7 trillion. The same phenomena was observed in 2019, with Tanzania export to EU reaching sh926 billion, lagging behind India sh2 trillion and East Africa Community  sh1.56 trillion. The recent 2020 data shows EU was the second block for Tanzania exports reaching  sh1.4 trillion, close to the sh1.8 trillion exported in the East African Community. EU is also the leading contributor of capital grant in Tanzania, whereas in the 2019/2020 budget, EU contributed a total of sh 236 billion to the Tanzania budget, this was followed by the Global Fund sh. 231 billion, Sweden sh.141 billion and UK-DFID sh.138 billion.

During the November 19, 2020, meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, the EU  Deputy Managing Director for Africa Mr Bernard Quintin insisted on political dialogues as the right strategy for engagement with Tanzania. It appears that the space for meaningful dialogue has opened up in Tanzania with the new President who is interested in building partnerships and having sound diplomatic policies.

Govt brings together key ministries, diplomatic corps to discuss budget implementation

The government on Monday organized a meeting between its strategic ministries and members of the international community in Tanzania where the country’s development partners were taken through the East African nation’s budget for the 2021/2022 financial year with the goal of informing them of the key priorities of the Samia Suluhu Hassan Administration.

The parliament approved the Sh36.6 trillion budget on June 22, 2021, which introduced fiscal and non-fiscal amendments aimed at promoting an inclusive and competitive economy that attracts private sector investment and increased employment opportunities by improving tax collection and administration as well as an overall business environment.

“We have decided to put in place an arrangement [that would allow the government] to meet with [Tanzania’s] development partners so that we can have a shared understanding on the key priority areas highlighted in the budget,” a statement released by foreign affairs ministry quoted the head of the docket Ambassador Liberata Mulamula as saying. “The goal is to present a realistic picture [to the development partners] of the government’s plans and strategies on how it is going to implement its budget.”

Tanzania’s development partners are expected to contribute about Sh2.8trillion through grants and soft loans to the Sh36.6trillion budget that is informed by the National Development Vision-2025; the Third Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP-III); the 2021/22 National Plan and Budget Guidelines; and CCM’s Elections Manifesto for 2020–2025.

“Through this meeting, we have been able to see the real picture of the cooperation between us [development partners] and the Tanzanian government,” said the European Union ambassador to Tanzania Mr Manfredo Fanti during the meeting that took place in Dar es Salaam. “[This meeting] has been wonderful because it has helped us understand what the government is up to in the implementation of the 2021/2022 budget.”

Violence against women still problem in TZ

A total of 15,131 women in Tanzania became victims of gender-based violence (GBV) between January and June 2021, which is an equivalent of 2,522 GBV incidents per month or fourteen incidents every day, with witchcraft and jealousy being the leading causes, according to the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Camilius Wambura.

Speaking in the capital Dodoma yesterday, DCI Wambura however pointed out that the incidents are fewer compared to those reported in the same period in 2020 where a total of 19,340 GBV incidents were reported.

DCI Wambura named Arusha,  Ilala, Tanga, Kinondoni and Lindi as the leading (police) regions in GBV in Tanzania, which respectively recorded 2021, 1,697, 1,486, 1,347, 924 and 780 GBV incidents between January and June this year.

Meanwhile, police in Shinyanga are investigating an incident where a woman was found dead on Monday morning in Majengo neighbourhood, Shinyanga town with her body dumped behind a Mosque while naked.

Neighbours discovered the body of the woman who was identified as Lucia Michael, alias Mama Kulwa, around 6 AM and reported the incident to the local government officials.

Shinyanga regional police commander George Kyando told Mwananchi newspaper on Monday that he was aware of the incident and the investigation has commenced to find out the real motivation and perpetrators behind the murder.

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