Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Tuesday, September 13, 2022.
Govt to spend Sh4b to construct African Court’s permanent premises
The government has approved a budget of Sh4 billion to commence the construction of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ permanent premises in Arusha, it was revealed on Tuesday.
Judges of the African Court had paid a courtesy call on President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the State House in Dar es Salaam to discuss issues of mutual concern, where they raised the issue of construction of the court’s permanent premises in Arusha.
Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud, President of the African Court, commended President Samia for approving the budget, saying: “This is a big and bold step in ensuring that the African Court gets its permanent premises,” according to a statement.
“This is a historic move and we are looking forward to its speedy construction,’’ she stressed. “This was yet another demonstration of Tanzania’s commitment to the cause of human rights, and generally, its unconditional support for the objectives of pan-Africanism.”
She reiterated the mission of the African Court which is to enhance through judicial decisions, the protective mandate of the African Commission by strengthening the human rights protection system in Africa.
The African Court President also emphasized that the long-term vision of the court is an Africa with a viable human rights culture.
“This vision is very informative because it states that it is only by establishing and upholding a feasible human rights culture that we can comprehend and attain the Africa we want,” she said.
On her part, President Samia commended the African Court for its commitment to promote and ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa, according to a statement availed to journalists on Tuesday.
She reiterated the commitment of the government of Tanzania to the African Court’s ideals and core values of human rights, good governance, democracy, and rule of law.
President Samia also reaffirmed that Tanzania will not renege on its commitment to support and continue its obligations as the host country in strengthening the existing cooperation with the African Union.
China deports a Tanzanian man over sexual harassment allegations
A Tanzanian man on Monday was detained in China for seven days before being ordered to leave the country after he was accused of sexually harassing a woman in the street in Xi’an, a city and capital of Shaanxi Province in central China.
According to a report by China’s Global Times, Xi’an’s Beilin public security bureau arrested the man identified by a single name of Lucas, 25, after getting a public report that he had reportedly sexually harassed a woman at the gate of a residential compound.
Citing witnesses, Global Times reported that Lucas had hauled the woman into the street, trying to stick out his tongue to kiss her. A video clip released by Hongxing News showed that the woman being attacked immediately caught Lucas and slapped him in the face, Global Times reported.
“The hashtag ‘Beilin police announced punishment to a foreigner for sexual harassment’ has become a trending topic on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo, where netizens lashed out at the man’s disgusting behaviour and gave the police a thumbs up for a quick and efficient response,” Global Times reported.
African Energy Metals enters joint venture to acquire Tanzanian coal projects
Canadian-based African Energy Metals announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to enter a joint venture with a Tanzanian group to acquire coal assets in Tanzania and announced private placement, a statement said yesterday.
The company has entered into an agreement with Black Hole Aurum Limited (BHA), a private Tanzanian company, to jointly pursue and acquire controlling interests in coal projects in Tanzania.
BHA is controlled by experienced businessmen having preexisting relationships with multiple coal companies with projects and delineated resources in Tanzania, according to a press release.
BHA and African Energy Metals are currently negotiating agreements on the first two targets and have signed an exclusive MOU on one of the projects, the statement added.
The company’s executive chairman Mr Stephen Barley said in a statement that African Energy Metals’ relationships in Africa extend beyond the DRC and into many neighbouring countries.
“With the renewed interest in coal-generated power in Europe, we were approached by BHA to participate with them in this exciting opportunity,” the statement quoted him as saying.
“The focus will be on projects that can sustain or increase coal production for export in the near term,” Mr Barley added. “The Company will continue with the current lithium, tin, tantalum, and rare earth projects in the DRC.”
Women farmers in Singida benefit from climate-smart agricultural practices
Over 300 women in Singida have benefited from the UN Women and UNFPA joint programme aimed at capacitating small-holder farmers’ groups on modern, climate-smart agricultural practices to improve sunflower farming productivity.
Titled “Realizing Gender Equality through Empowering Women and Adolescent Girls,” supported by KOICA, UN Women partnered with Farm Africa to carry out the project that increased the women’s income almost two-fold, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
The groups were trained and given improved sunflower seeds and enhanced access to markets through Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives. They will also improve crop storage through a newly constructed warehouse boosting post-harvest sales.
The project allowed UN Women to partner with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements, and local authorities to draft village land-use plans for women to obtain certificates of customary rights of occupancy (CCROs), allowing for the ownership of land under customary law.
“This enabled the issuance of over 5,000 CCROs in four villages of the Ikungi district, most of which were issued to women,” a statement quoted Hodan Addou, UN Women Representative in Tanzania, as saying. “The partnership with the Ministry of Lands and the district council has demonstrated how it can yield positive results.”
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One Response
Tanzania is committed to reducing its ‘carbon footprint’ in line with the Paris Agreement of 2015. All major fossil fuel companies have committed (in theory at least) to abandon oil, gas and (especially) coal to help save life on earth. African Energy Metals seems not to know any of this and is keen to increase CO2 emissions as fast as possible in order to make profits for its shareholders and fat bonuses for its managers. Tanzanian coal production and exports are booming and the government sees no contradiction between its formal climate commitments and actual energy policy. Shame on both African Energy Minerals and the GOT for steering us blindly in the wrong direction.
Brian Cooksey
Arusha