Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Samia: No one owns the title deed of Tanzania
President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday explained why she had decided to seek reconciliation with the political opposition in Tanzania, noting that gone are the days when the ruling party thought it could do everything on its own.
The Head of State spoke during a press conference organised by her host President Cyril Ramaphosa as Samia marked the start of her state visit to South Africa, Tanzania’s traditional ally.
President Samia arrived in Pretoria, South Africa, on Wednesday for the two-day state visit to the country on Mr Ramaphosa’s invitation as the two nations seek to strengthen cooperation in trade and investment, infrastructure, transport, energy, and others.
“No one owns the title deed of Tanzania,” President Samia said during the press conference. “Tanzania is a country of all Tanzanians. And we all have to contribute towards the development of the country.”
On March 19, 2023, President Samia will mark two years in office since she took the helm of the country’s leadership following the death of her predecessor John Magufuli, which took place on March 17, 2021.
Her administration has been hailed for engineering a political dialogue among Tanzania’s vital political actors, forming a task force to coordinate stakeholders’ views on how best Tanzania can organise competitive politics.
She has lifted a six-year ban on political rallies. She has promised to amend controversial electoral laws and revive the much-vaunted constitution-writing process, which has won her many accolades even from her opponents.
Speaking in Pretoria on Thursday, President Samia said her administration is committed to building a pluralistic nation where everyone has a role towards its development.
“We want to do away with the tradition when the ruling party thought it could do everything on its own,” said Samia, who doubles as the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party national chairperson.
“But now, what we want to do, is to ensure that all of the political parties, CSOs, NGOs, and the government, work together to bring about the development of our country,” she added. “I’m glad to say that we have achieved that.”
Full story here.
Tanzania reported death of five people caused by unknown disease
Tanzania Chief Medical Officer, Proffessor Tumaini Nagu has on yesterday briefed the public about an outbreak of unknown disease reported in Kagera region, Bukoba rural district at the Bulinda and Butayaibega villages.
The disease which cause patients to have fever, bleed, vomit blood and eventually lead to kidney failure has caused death to five patients and two are still under hospital care.
“Early signs of the disease shows this might be an outbreak” said Prof Nagu in her press, “government has taken step to stop the spread of the disease including taking samples from the patients and the deceased, as well as monitoring people with signs of the disease in the community.”
Government has also deployed a regional response team to the villages to monitor the disease for further investigation.
Tanzania to participate in the 15th BRICS summit
While the main highlight of the Tanzania’s President State visit to South Africa was trade and investment, geopolitics was one item that emerged several times.
South Africa journal flooded President Ramaphosa with question around BRICS expansion, Russia-Ukraine war and diplomacy as well as South Africa closeness to Russian and China amidst global tension between the west and east.
“We are moving from a unipolar world where certain countries would have voice over othe countries to multilateral world”, respond Ramaphosa to a question from journalist if he think ‘the north is a headache’. President Samia also added to Ramaphosa response saying, “all African countries are vying to have their voices heard in multilateral platforms.”
On the question around Tanzania participation on BRICS summit, Tanzania president explained that she has received invitation for the summit.
“I’m glad to say that I have been invited to attend the coming BRICS meeting. When I attend the meeting that is when I will come up with how Tanzania will participate in BRICS, and what is to be done between Tanzania and the block so as to facilitate the development” clarified president Samia Suluhu.
Zanzibaris split over whether GNU has improved matters or not
People living in this semi-autonomous archipelago have had varying assessments of the ruling Government of National Unity (GNU) as the coalition government between Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), and ACT-Wazalendo will mark a fourth anniversary later this year.
A random survey that The Chanzo carried out recently in various areas of Unguja, the largest island forming the archipelago, found that Zanzibaris are sharply split across party lines when it comes to their analysis of the changes brought about by the GNU.
It comes almost three years since opposition ACT-Wazalendo decided to become a partner in the coalition government after initially threatening to boycott as they were protesting the results of the 2020 Zanzibar presidential election that gave CCM’s Hussein Ali Mwinyi the victory.
A product of a 2010 referendum, the GNU was a negotiated political settlement between two parties – the incumbent CCM and the Civic United Front (CUF), a once powerful opposition party whose internal conflicts led to its split and predominance of ACT-Wazalendo.
One of the advantages that many Zanzibaris expected the GNU would offer was equality of opportunities where nobody would be discriminated against based on their political affiliations. Many of those we spoke to from ACT-Wazalendo feel this is not happening.
Full story here.
Five arraigned in Kagera for child abduction
Five people on Thursday appeared before the Kagera Resident Magistrate’s Court to answer two charges, including conspiracy to commit an offence and child kidnapping, the government-owned Daily News newspaper reported.
They are Husina Abdallah, Khalid Ramadhan, Japhet Stanislaus, Denis Prudence and Abdul Seleman—all of the accused residents of Bukoba, Kagera region.
Prosecuting State Attorney Evaristha Kimaro told a fully-packed courtroom that the accused jointly committed the offence on December 1, 2022.
She said at noon on that material date, three men reported at the house of Ms Johanitha Augustine, 25, who recently delivered a baby boy identified as Benita Beneth (three months old).
The three men congratulated her for the safe delivery while asking whether they could see the child, but the mother declined because the child was asleep in one of the rooms.
She later escorted them some 200 metres away from the house, but to her surprise, when she returned, the baby was nowhere to be seen.
Later, she reported the matter to the Bukoba police station, and a full investigation was conducted, leading to the arrest of the accused.
Bukoba Resident Magistrate Flora Kaijage, on behalf of Resident Janet Magessa, adjourned Criminal Case No 129/2022 to March 28, 2023, for further hearing.
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