Tanzania - The African Mirror

Jan

2021

Africa begins vaccines, Tanzania told to trust science

GEORGE OBULUTSA Some African nations have begun administering vaccines against COVID-19, regional health officials said, though Tanzania's dissenting president was singled out for his trust in alternative remedies and God. John Nkengasong, director of the African Union (AU) bloc's disease control and prevention body, said a few countries had begun vaccinating: Morocco, Egypt, Seychelles and Guinea. "Guinea is very limited, just about 50 to 60 vaccinations have occurred. But these other countries have started mainly with the vaccine from China," he told an online briefing. In addition to 270 million doses previously secured, the AU has signed an agreement with…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

How Magufuli has steered Tanzania down the road of an authoritarian one-party state

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

TANZANIA'S 2020 general elections resulted in a predictably easy victory for one of Africa’s oldest ruling parties, Chama Cha Mapinduzi. NICODEMUS MINDE, PhD Fellow, United States International University The National Electoral Commission declared the incumbent, John Magufuli, the winner with 84.4% of the vote. His closest challenger, Chadema’s Tundu Lissu, garnered a paltry 13%. The ruling party also won 261 of the 264 parliamentary seats. This represents 98.86% of the total. Similar results were reported in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous island region of Tanzania. There the presidential candidate Hussein Mwinyi was declared the winner with 76.6% of the votes. The ruling…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Mozambique, Tanzania to launch joint operations against insurgents

NEWS

MOZAMBIQUE and Tanzania are to launch joint operations to combat an Islamist insurgency under an agreement that will also see some 500 suspected insurgents extradited, according to Mozambique's state-owned newspaper Noticias. The three-year-old insurgency is concentrated in Mozambique's northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, separated from Tanzania by the Rovuma River and home to gas developments worth $60 billion. In October, however, it spilled across the border when some 300 insurgents attacked a Tanzanian village. Many of the insurgency's recruits are also thought to come from Tanzania. Noticias said the agreement would see the two countries launch joint operations in Mozambique…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Petra Diamonds investigates charges Tanzanian subsistence miners abused

HUMAN RIGHTS

PETRA Diamonds said it was investigating allegations by a British non-governmental organisation that subsistence miners who trespassed on the firm's Williamson mine in Tanzania were detained, beaten and shot at, killing at least seven of them. The RAID report, based on research conducted between September 2019 and November 2020, alleged that security contractors and security employees of Petra's subsidiary Williamson Diamonds Limited (WDL) used excessive force. Petra Diamonds told Reuters a specialist external adviser was conducting an investigation and said an external consultancy had been appointed to assess WDL's management of its security. "The board of Petra Diamonds finds the…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

UN rights chief disturbed by ‘intimidation’ of opposition in Tanzania

NEWS

THE U.N. human rights chief is disturbed by reports of "intimidation and harassment" of the opposition in Tanzania following a disputed election that the incumbent president won with 84% of the vote. President John Magufuli was declared the winner of the October 28 vote but the main opposition parties have alleged fraud. The opposition called for protests against the results but the police foiled their attempts last week and arrested their leaders, before later releasing them on bail. Police said the demonstrations were illegal and were meant to cause violence in the East African country. Tundu Lissu, who was Magufuli's…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli says to work with rivals after tainted poll

NEWS

TANZANIA’S President John Magufuli has promised to work with his rivals after a landslide victory in an election his leading opponent described as a travesty and the United States said was marred by widespread irregularities. The overture comes ahead of demonstrations that opposition has called for to protest against the poll's results. "I will be the servant of all Tanzanians. I would like to thank my fellow presidential contestants for participating," Magufuli said at a function in the capital Dodoma where he formally accepted the results. According to results announced by the country's poll body on Friday, Magufuli secured 84%…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Militants from Mozambique staged deadly attack in Tanzania, police say

NEWS

GEORGE OBULUTSA ABOUT 300 militants from Mozambique attacked a village in southern Tanzania and killed an unknown number of people last week, Tanzania's top police officer said, describing an attack claimed earlier by the Islamic State. Inspector-General of Police Simon Sirro said militants attacked the village of Kitaya in Tanzania's rural Mtwara region bordering Mozambique. "Terrorists numbering 300, coming from Mozambique, attacked our station and the village of Kitaya, and committed crimes and they killed," Sirro said in an interview with Azam TV, a private Tanzanian chain, broadcast late Thursday. He did not specify the number of people killed, nor…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Tanzania opposition leader says facing repression as elections near

NEWS

THREE weeks before elections, the Tanzanian government is getting scared and will do all in its power to stop the opposition, according to Tundu Lissu, a presidential hopeful whose convoy was teargassed by police last week. "It is getting harder. It is getting hotter. We expected this," Lissu, from the main opposition Chadema party, told Reuters on Wednesday. Chadema says its party offices in Arusha in northern Tanzania were firebombed. Meanwhile, dozens of opposition parliamentary candidates were disqualified from running in the elections for president and members of parliament on October 28. "The regime is getting scared and therefore they…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Tanzanian president Magufuli to face 14 challengers in Oct elections

NEWS

TANZANIAN president John Magufuli will face 14 challengers in elections scheduled for this October, the elections board announced on Wedne, with analysts saying a divided opposition was likely to ensure he won a second term. His main challengers are likely to be Tundu Lissu, who returned to Tanzania last month after spending nearly three years in Belgium for treatment after he was shot during an assassination attempt, and ex-foreign minister Bernard Membe, who was expelled from the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi party in February. The presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 28. Opposition parties are heading to the…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Tanzania’s Benjamin William Mkapa: a life of achievements and regrets

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AIKANDE CLEMENT KWAYU, Independent researcher & Honorary Research Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison THE morning of Friday 24 July 2020 was a day of mixed emotions in Tanzania. Many were saddened by the news that former President Benjamin William Mkapa had passed away. But his death triggered negative emotions too. These mixed reactions reflected the conflicting legacy he left during his decade as president from 1995 to 2005. On the one hand, he has an impressive record in building state institutions. On the other, his reign was marked by killings and diminished democratic space. Mkapa’s last appearance in public happened just…