Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, November 21, 2022.

Bashiru urges farmers to force govt to take their side. CCM is not pleased

Senior officials of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) are having a meltdown following remarks by the party’s former secretary-general Bashiru Ally who recently urged farmers across the country to force those entrusted with the country’s leadership to be on their side.

Dr Ally was speaking during a gathering organised by the Network of Smallholder Farmers’ Groups in Tanzania (MVIWATA) in Morogoro, on November 17, 2022, to discuss the fate of smallholders in the country within the context of the free market ideology.

“My hope is that your solidarity will send a clear message to those in positions of power,” Dr Ally, now serving as an appointed Member of Parliament, told smallholders. “Your statements and positions should intimidate them to take your side.”

The former University of Dar es Salaam lecturer warned farmers against the danger of joining the chorus aimed at heaping praises on President Samia Suluhu Hassan, noting that doing so would be equivalent to killing MVIWATA as a representative of farmers’ voices.

“MVIWATA is not an organ whose function is to praise and thank [those in power],” Dr Ally, who briefly served as the Chief Secretary of Tanzania, pointed out during his speech. “It is an organ to demand justice.”

However, the advice has not been well received by Dr Ally’s fellow senior cadres within CCM, Africa’s second-largest party, who have interpreted his remarks as pitting Tanzanians against their government.

Full story here.

U.S. Africa Command Special Operations Forces train alongside TPDF

Special Operations Command Africa forces concluded a Civil Affairs Joint Combined Exchange Training alongside the Tanzania Marine Special Forces in Dar es Salaam, on November 15, 2022, according to a statement released Monday.

The month-long training gave both the U.S. and Tanzania servicemembers the opportunity to develop and maintain critical military-to-military connections and improve joint and allied readiness and interoperability.

“This course is very crucial for our special forces because it enables us to be better prepared for various scenarios and upcoming duties,” the statement quoted Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces Marine Special Forces Commander Lt. Col. Athumani Ghamunga. “It is also the opportunity to share experience and knowledge between our special forces.”

While joint exchanges between the two nations aren’t new, this exercise helped develop different capabilities and incorporate elements from the civil affairs unit, the statement said.

“This was the first civil affairs-focused JCET in Tanzania,” said U.S. Army Capt. Tyler Clarke, a civil affairs team lead in the statement. “The training focused on civil affairs and civil-military operations to include civil reconnaissance, civil engagements, we discussed negotiations, mediations and tactical combat casualty care.”

The JCET program’s primary purpose is to provide partner-nation special operations units specific training to promote security and stability in Africa.

“Joint combined exchange training is the bridge and glue which binds together the relationship between Tanzania and the U.S.,” said TPDF’s Brig. Gen. Iddi Nkambi.

U.S. Africa Command and special operations forces are committed to mutually beneficial engagements with partners.

In September 2021, Tanzania’s Marine Special Forces and US Special Forces Detachment concluded a six-week JCET that took place in Dar es Salaam.

For six weeks, the US and Tanzanian forces trained side by side to strengthen skills such as small unit tactics, marksmanship, medical treatment, unit manoeuvre, the Law of Armed Conflict and the preservation of human rights in combat.

Govt expects Sh8 billion a year from graphite exploitation

The government is expecting to earn over $3.6 million (about Sh8.4 billion) annually once the envisaged graphite mine at Mahenge in Ulanga District, Morogoro Region, starts operations.

This is according to Mr Adolph Ndunguru, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Minerals who made permanent secretary, who reportedly made the observation at a progress meeting with stakeholders of the Mahenge mining project recently.

According to the report, the amount is based on 51 per cent of the surplus from the investment whose total benefit to the national economy is projected at $8 billion over a period of 26 years.

The project results from an agreement with Black Rock Mining Ltd., Mahenge Resources Ltd. (T) and Mahenge Resources Ltd (UK) inked last December 13, to jointly develop the graphite mine.

Under the framework agreement, the parties agreed to establish a joint venture company for the mining activity, setting up Faru Graphite Corporation, at a ceremony attended by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, where Minerals Minister Doto Biteko signed for the government.

The government has a 16 per cent free carried interest, a stake for which it deposits no capital, and the investor, Black Rock Mining, retains 84 per cent shares in the joint venture, Faru Graphite Corp.

Tanzanian student dies by suicide in her hostel in Nairobi

Violet Bijura, a 23-year-old Tanzanian student, was on November 19, 2022, found dead in her apartment after an apparent suicide in Nairobi’s Thome estate, Kenya.

Kenya’s The Star newspaper reported on Monday that the fourth-year student at the United States International University in Nairobi is believed to have hanged herself on a frame in her house on November 19.

Police said they were informed the body was hanging on a bed sheet at the house before they moved there and confirmed the same at about 7 pm, the paper reported.

They found the body dangling on the doorframe on a white bed sheet that was around her neck.

The team says there was a suicide note in the woman’s sitting room, which indicated she was depressed.

Police said they were also informed she was depressed but a probe is ongoing.

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