Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Thursday, November 4, 2021.
VP Mpango defends Tanzania’s withdrawal of individual rights to African Court
Vice President Philip Mpango said Thursday that Tanzania’s decision to withdraw its declaration allowing individuals and non-governmental organizations to directly file cases against the government at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was not “made out of political considerations or expediency.”
On November 21, 2019, Tanzania undertook the widely controversial decision that attracted widespread criticisms from both local and international human rights activists.
The John Magufuli administration took the decision while reports indicated that Tanzania had the highest number of cases filed by individuals and NGOs as well as judgments issued against it by the African Court.
Out of the 70 decisions issued by the court by September 2019, for example, 28 decisions, or 40 per cent, were on Tanzania, according to the global human rights movement Amnesty International.
Many critics accused the government then of giving itself impunity against actions that might be taken against it following its violations of a number of human rights principles that were rife at the time.
But while speaking during the Fifth African Judicial Dialogue on Thursday, a conference that brought together legal and judicial stakeholders from various African countries, Dr Mpango dismissed such accusations, saying that the decision was taken while considering Tanzania’s best national interests.
“[The withdrawal] was not made out of political considerations or expediency,” Dr Mpango was quoted as saying. “I’m also aware that some other African Union Member States have also withdrawn from the declaration. I believe that they too have their reasons for doing so.”
Dr Mpango further defended the withdrawal, saying that the decision was arrived at after thorough consultations and considerations within the entire government system respecting the sovereignty of the country.
Still, the VP stressed that Tanzania remains a party to the Court and is allied to the mandate and spirit of the tribunal, adding that access to the Court remains as stipulated under Article 5 (1) of the Protocol for the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
TPDC signs two-year deal with oil & gas conglomerate EPCM Holdings
Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) has signed a two-year deal with the global oil and gas conglomerate EPCM Holdings’ local subsidiary EPCM Tanzania that would see the latter providing consultancy services for project management consulting, according to a website Energy Voice.
“The client will put out gas works – we will project manage these as they are put out,” EPCM head of business development Menno Gazendam told Energy Voice in an email, adding that the gas works will all be publicly advertised.
The work covers feasibility studies and front-end engineering and design (FEEDs). It also includes detailed engineering and management of natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines.
The scope of the contract includes customer connections, CNG stations and even a mini-LNG facility.
“We look forward to working with TPDC to achieve the objectives as set out in the Natural Gas Utilisation Master Plan”, EPCM said. It expects to help gas deliveries in Lindi, Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, Morogoro and Dodoma.
The CNG plan involves standard stations capable of dispensing gas to mobile trailers, “mother” stations. It also has smaller-scale compression stations, which can receive and distribute CNG, the “daughter” stations.
Tanzania has expressed interest in exporting gas to Kenya and Uganda, in addition to meeting domestic demand.
Minister: Tanzania registers Sh8trillion investment projects in seven months
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Investment Geoffrey Mwambe said on Wednesday that a total of 182 investment projects worth Sh8 trillion (about $3.5 billion) were registered in Tanzania between April 2021 and October 2021.
Speaking in the capital Dodoma, Mr Mwambe said 164 of the 182 investment projects were registered by the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) and 18 projects were registered by the Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA).
“The 182 registered investment projects in the past seven months are expected to create 48,000 jobs for Tanzanians,” Mwambe told a news conference in the capital Dodoma.
He said most of the registered investment projects covered agriculture, construction, manufacturing, industry, and mining.
Mr Mwambe attributed the impressive flow of investment projects to measures aimed at improving the investment environment being undertaken by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration.
Mwambe pledged that the government would continue taking measures aimed at making the environment more conducive for investment.
“The measures include amendment of outdated investment laws, policies, and regulations,” said the minister.
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