Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
‘Outrageous’: DC sparks fury after hitting a girl, causing her serious injuries
Pressure mounts on President Samia Suluhu Hassan to remove from office Songwe district commissioner Simon Simalenga after reports emerged Tuesday that implicate him in abusive conduct, sparking fury among members of the public.
Mr Simalenga faces accusations of beating a girl named Florenencia Mjenda, causing her serious injuries. The teenage girl made the accusations on Monday while speaking with journalists.
According to Mjenda, the incident took place on December 2, 2022, during a women’s football match where Mr Simalenga reportedly summoned Mjenda and hit her after accusing her of sitting at the wrong place, a place designated for dignitaries.
“When were sitting there when the DC showed up and summoned all of us,” Mjenda, a resident of Mbangala in Songwe, told journalists. “My colleagues ignored him and went different ways but I went to meet him out of respect. When I got to him, he held my hand and slapped me.”
Mr Simalenga, however, has denied the reports, telling the media that nobody was beaten and that things did not turn out at the scene as they are being reported in the media.
“The only thing I did was to issue a warning [to the students],” Mr Simalenga is quoted as saying. “And the girl who claims that I slapped her I just held her hands and she apologized.”
But a team of social workers appointed by Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups Dr Dorothy Gwajima to look into the matter confirmed the incident to have occurred, reporting that already the victim has filed a lawsuit on indecent assault with the police.
“I’m personally saddened by this incident and I strongly condemn [the behaviour] by [government] leaders to go outside the prescribed arrangement and initiate a personal feud,” Dr Gwajima told journalists on Tuesday. “Mostly in these cases, women and children tend to be the victims. This is not acceptable.”
Full story here.
Zanzibar partners with NIT to boost its maritime capacity
The Zanzibar Maritime Authority (ZMA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Transport (NIT) that will see the two exchange knowledge and expertise on maritime-based programmes.
Signed on Tuesday in Dar es Salaam, the MoU also opens doors for professionals seeking careers in the industry.
The Citizen newspaper quoted ZMA director general Ms Sheikha Mohamed as speaking during the signing of the MoU that part of the agreement involves training staff and students through an exchange programme between the two government institutions.
“In Tanzania, the NIT is the only institute that provides appropriate training on all modes of transport including aviation, maritime, railway and road,” the paper quoted the official as saying. “This MoU will help us to bring our staff and students here through the exchange programme.”
On his hand, NIT Rector Prof Zacharia Mganilwa said apart from providing a new opportunity for the NIT and ZMA to improve knowledge and expertise in maritime, the MoU also seeks to improve the curriculum in maritime courses for both institutions.
Scirocco Energy provides update on Ruvuma divestment
UK-based gas-focused production and development company Scirocco Energy on Tuesday provided an update on the divestment of the Ruvuma asset, where the company has entered into an agreement to sell its 25 per cent interest to ARA Petroleum Tanzania, a subsidiary of the Zubair Corporation, Omani-based energy conglomerate.
According to a statement on Tuesday, the Tanzanian Fair Competition Commission (FCC) has now granted its unconditional approval for the transaction and issued Scirocco Energy with the Merger Clearance Certificate.
Tom Reynolds, Scirocco’s CEO, said in a statement that the issuance of the certificate is an important step towards the completion of the asset divestment.
“We are pleased to report this positive development today as we progress towards the completion of the divestment of Scirocco’s interest in Ruvuma to APT,” he said in a statement.
“We continue to work closely with Tanzanian authorities and counterparties and look forward to completing the transaction in Q1 2023,” added Mr Reynolds.
He said that the company continues to engage with stakeholders across the government agencies whose approval is required as part of the completion process.
Its board now considers it more likely that completion will be achieved in Q1 2023 rather than December 2022 as previously guided, due to likely disruption around the upcoming festive period.
Scirocco remains in discussions with all stakeholder groups and will continue to provide updates to the market accordingly, the company said.
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