We won’t back down, US envoy tells President Samia on Tanzania abductions

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By BOB KARASHANI

The United States Ambassador to Tanzania, Michael Battle, said on Thursday that his country had no intention of retreating from its push for strict adherence to democratic rights and principles as a key aspect of its partnership with Dodoma.

This came after President Samia Suluhu Hassan earlier this week pointedly criticised the US Embassy for leading Western diplomats in Tanzania in condemning a wave of mysterious abductions and killings that has swept the country in the run-up to local elections in November.  

President Samia warned other countries to desist from interfering in Tanzania’s domestic affairs and violating the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by trying to dictate how Dodoma should handle investigations into the trend of abductions, which has heightened security concerns across the country ahead of the upcoming civic elections. 

Although she did not name any mission in particular, the President singled out two recently reported assassination attempts on US presidential candidate Donald Trump as “proof” that incidents of pre-election violence were also prevalent in the West.   

But, addressing a democracy conference in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, Mr Battle acknowledged that the US was not “immune to challenges and imperfections” in maintaining democratic standards as it prepares for its own presidential election this year, but remained adamant that Washington’s support for Tanzania, which he said has so far resulted in about $7.5 billion in aid commitments over the years, would remain hinged on respect for democracy and human rights.

“As long as we remain Tanzania’s partner, we will always speak openly and honestly on these principles. We will not back away or hold back. It is an obligation fundamental and paramount to human dignity and human respect,” he said.

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The US mission in Dar was the first to issue a formal statement denouncing the brazen abduction and brutal killing of opposition Chadema party official Ali Mohamed Kibao two weeks ago.  

Read: Ally Kibao, abducted Tanzanian opposition leader found dead, acid poured on face

In its strongly worded statement on September 9, the embassy described the incident and other recent disappearances, detentions and beatings involving political and human rights activists in Tanzania as “efforts to disenfranchise citizens ahead of (the) elections,” and called for an “independent, transparent, and prompt investigation.” 

The European Union, the British and Canadian High Commissions, and Norway and Switzerland embassies followed up with a joint statement on September 10, calling for a “thorough inquiry.”

President Samia responded on September 17 in a televised speech insisting that such interventions by the diplomatic corps were not welcome and that no “outsiders” should claim to be more pained by the events than Tanzanians themselves.

“It is our own responsibility to find out why they are happening at this moment in time. We know what we need to do as a sovereign nation and do not appreciate other countries telling us to do one, two, three,” the President asserted.

Read: Tanzania abductions: Samia tells foreign envoys to keep off probe

She also questioned whether the statements had been sanctioned by the heads of State of those countries, stating: “I have my own ways of checking with my fellow presidents and will lodge formal complaints with them once I confirm that they, indeed, were.”

Representatives of the British, Canadian, Norway and Switzerland missions, who were part of the joint EU-led statement, were also present at Thursday’s forum in Dar es Salaam hosted by the Tanzania Centre for Democracy (TCD), alongside the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and South Africa. 

The event, marking the International Day of Democracy, saw the launch of TCD’s first assessment report on the state of democracy in Tanzania, which the centre says will be published annually.

The recent upsurge in politically-linked violence has cast a long shadow over the November 28 local government elections, which are expected to provide the template for next year’s general election, in which President Samia will defend her incumbency and the ruling CCM party its majority legislative control until 2030.

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Tanzania: Samia Hassan Demands Major Improvements in Airports

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Tanzania: Samia Hassan Demands Major Improvements in Airports

PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has issued directives to the newly appointed leadership of Tanzania’s airports, demanding significant improvements in both infrastructure and operations.

Speaking at a swearing-in ceremony for various government officials at State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday, President Samia expressed dissatisfaction at the current state of the country’s airports, particularly in terms of passenger experience and system reliability.

The President instructed, the newly appointed Abdul Mombokaleo, the Director of the Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA), who took an integrity oath yesterday, saying: “Operationally and in terms of infrastructure, there have been recent issues with systems at our airports, which our international visitors often use.

I have received complaints, so you must address these problems to ensure our visitors have a comfortable experience.

Elaborating, she highlighted complaints from international visitors about operational issues and outdated infrastructure.

ALSO READ: Samia calls for unified action against crimes

The Head of State said there is still significant work to be done at Tanzania’s airports, despite the progress made so far.

She urged the officials to be innovative and ensure that the revenue generated from the airports is utilised efficiently to improve the services that visitors expect when they arrive.

President Samia also mentioned the inconsistent functionality of the fast-track system, which is frequently used by government officials.

“Many tourists also want to use fast-track services because they have travelled long distances and are exhausted, but delays dampen their spirits. Ensure that all airports receiving international visitors are in top condition.”

In addition to these appointments, Nenelwa Mwihambi was sworn in as a Judge of the High Court of Tanzania, having previously served as the Clerk of the National Assembly.

Her former position has been taken over by Idelphonce Leonard, who was also sworn in at the State House. Other officials who took oath of integrity include Mombokaleo as the Director of TAA, Mr Salim Msangi as the Director General of the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) and Macrice Mbodo as the Postmaster General.

Source: allafrica.com

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Mpox is not under control in continent, warns Africa CDC

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By REUTERS

The mpox outbreak in Africa is still not under control, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Thursday, adding that cases were still increasing in several countries.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant was identified.

Countries in the continent are struggling to respond to another major outbreak coming at the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic that exposed weak health systems that were unprepared to deal with a major public health crisis.

Read: Gavi gives Africa 0.5m doses of newly approved Mpox vaccine

The number of mpox cases in Africa has surged 177 percent, and deaths have increased 38.5 percent compared with the same period a year ago, data from the Africa CDC showed.

“We can say today that mpox is not under control in Africa. We still have this increase of cases that is worrying for all of us,” Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, told a weekly briefing on the outbreak.

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In one week, 2,912 new cases were reported compared with the previous week including a new country, Morocco, where a case was reported, confirming the spread of the disease in all four regions of the continent.

So far, 15 of the 55 member states of the African Union have reported cases, Africa CDC said.

“We still have people dying from mpox in Africa. In one week, we lost 14 people,” Kaseya added.

Read: Mpox vaccines: Where do they come from?

He added in some countries, such as Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, two strains of the disease were in circulation, but because surveillance and testing systems were not robust enough, it was impossible to tell if that was the case in other countries.

Kaseya said Rwanda had started its vaccination campaign, while the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the outbreak, is set to start vaccinations in early October.

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Sasra chief executive Peter Njuguna on addressing pain points in Sacco industry

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In: Tanzania Foreign Investment News

The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) recently published its annual supervision report on operations of 357 deposit-taking and large non-withdrawable deposit-taking saccos.

Sasra chief executive Peter Njuguna spoke to the Business Daily on the state of the industry, including steps being taken to address sticky pain points such as loss of deposits, governance lapses, non-remittances and continued lack of insurance for deposits.

The loan book continues to open a gap with savings. To what extent is this a concern given that the deposits serve as collateral?

A loan to deposit (LTD) ratio exceeding 100 percent in the Sacco industry is inherent in the Kenya Sacco business model where most members save to improve their borrowing ability while also earning a return on the deposits. Hence, it is not a new phenomenon.

This is the reason the authority has proposed policy and legal amendments to effect the deposit guarantee fund and facilitate shared services amongst saccos to enhance savings mobilisation capabilities with safety as a central proposition.

Secondly, while deposits form the bulk of loan collateral, saccos have increasingly expanded collateral choices including registrable properties such as motor vehicles, land and buildings.

Thirdly, in lending, high consideration is placed on repayment ability hence the reason that non-performing loans ratio (NPLs) has remained below 10 percent in spite of the difficult economic situation.

Fourthly, loan contracts are member-centric hence LTD ratio would not be an appropriate indicator for quality of loan security in a financial institution.

Finally, the capital reserves form part of the loanable funds depending on the asset structure and policies of a Sacco and this explains why the external borrowing as a source of funding loans has remained at about three percent on average. Therefore, when deposits and reserves are put together it exceeds the loan at over 112 percent ratio.

The supervision report shows the number of dormant members in saccos continues to rise and its share in total membership crossed 20 percent last year. What is driving this trend?

Dormant members as a proportion of total members hit a peak of 25 percent during [the first year of Covid-19 in 2020 and it has averaged 20 percent since then, reaching 21 percent in 2023.

This in our view is due to the nature of the economic situation where Sacco members are unable to sustain monthly or regular savings with the Sacco due to diminished household incomes and sustained high cost of living.

This is evident from the sustained high proportion of loans to members for education and consumption financing over the last three years. These are social sectors that in practice should be funded from household earnings and not borrowed funds.

What can saccos do to ensure they rally members to continue saving so as to narrow the gap between savings and loan book?

The traditional Sacco business model is that the value proposition is partly based on borrowing as a multiple of non-withdrawable deposits and the return on deposits in the Sacco.

This has the unintended consequences of permanently having an LTD ratio greater than 100 percent as saccos have increased loan amounts to multiple of five to retain members as the liquidity rises.

In itself, this is good from a financial intermediation viewpoint since it addresses the challenge of access to credit to households and micro-small and medium sized enterprises in the economy. But it is a concern from a financial stability viewpoint.

Saccos have invested heavily in payment solutions to make it convenient and efficient in cashing in and out; and thus enhancing deposit mobilising capabilities.

On the policy front, we have made proposals to address the safety concerns through operationalisation of the deposit guarantee fund and a structured management of liquidity in the Sacco industry akin to what happens in other deposit taking institutions world-wide.

Several saccos under Sasra supervision have hit members with loss of deposits mainly due to weaknesses in management. What is Sasra doing to improve the governance of saccos?

SASRA mandate places good governance of saccos at the centre of its work. This is the reason that Sasra, beyond its administrative role, has powers to remove officers from office; and has collaborated with other agencies like Directorate of Criminal Investigations to take up suspected criminal offenses for investigation and prosecution.

This is important in affirming that there are consequences for bad governance in saccos. In addition, Sasra has continued to issue guidelines on good governance practices and has put before Parliament amendments to strengthen the criteria for determining the suitability of officers in Saccos.

Moreover, saccos employ a unique business and ownership model, where members are indeed the owners of the saccos and equally the customers who trade with their entity.

Their role in entrenching good governance should therefore be strengthened through appropriate education initiatives and active participation in the governance processes, which Sasra is facilitating, together with other national cooperative organisations.

Sasra has been planning on introducing a deposit insurance fund just as is the case with banks. Why is this taking so long? What is the latest on this plan?

DGF is a major pillar in enhancing financial stability of the Sacco industry and the proposed amendments to the Sacco Societies Act to enable its operationalisation are under consideration in the office of the Cabinet secretary.

This is a priority policy agenda of the government, and we expect that it will be concluded in this fiscal year.

The issue of non-remittances continues to hurt members. What is Sasra doing about it? How can this be made punishable?

The non-remittance challenge has persisted to the detriment of the affected saccos. While Cooperative Societies Act (Section 35) provides a legal mechanism on non-remittances; it is certainly not adequate.

Sasra is encouraging saccos to look at this as a business strategy where members remit directly through the front office services activity (Fosa), or direct debit as opposed to having the employer act as a collecting agent.

This calls for saccos to invest in appropriate capacity in payments processing and member education as non-remittance is becoming an existential threat to some saccos.

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Tanzania: Samia Hassan – Hands Off

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In: Tanzania Foreign Investment News

President Samia Suluhu Hassan has firmly defended Tanzania’s sovereignty, emphasising that the country is guided by its constitution, laws and traditions.

The Head of State was responding to concerns by a section of foreign envoys regarding the recent abduction and killing of Ali Kibao, a member of the opposition Chadema party.

In a bold statement, President Samia did not mince words as she reminded members of the international community, including diplomatic envoys in Tanzania, that the nation is fully capable of managing its internal affairs without external interference.

“We are not here to be instructed on what to do in our country. Tanzania has its constitution, laws and traditions that guide us,” President Samia asserted as she addressed the Senior Police Officers’ General Meeting held alongside the 60th anniversary of the force in Kilimanjaro Region.

The President’s remarks follow a series of tragic incidents that have shaken the nation, including the high-profile murder of a political figure and ongoing killings linked to superstition, witchcraft and political or economic interests.

In her address, President Samia assured the nation that the government had initiated thorough investigations into the killings, underscoring that such actions are in line with international norms.

She referenced similar incidents in developed countries, pointing out that the response of any responsible government, including Tanzania’s, is to deploy security agencies to conduct investigations.

“When we hear of a politician in a developed country surviving two assassination attempts, what does their government do? They immediately launch investigations. This is no different here in Tanzania,” the President said, emphasising that her administration will leave no stone unturned in uncovering the truth behind these tragic events.

Stressing the importance of human life, President Samia delivered a powerful reminder to the nation: life is irreplaceable and the protection of Tanzanian lives is a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution.

“The life of every Tanzanian is protected by Article 14 of our Constitution, which clearly states that every person has the right to life and to be protected by the law,” she emphasised.

She appealed to all public officials, particularly those in leadership roles, to remain fully committed to their constitutional oaths.

“Those who serve in leadership positions must remember their oath to protect the people and uphold the rule of law. Our responsibility is to safeguard the lives and rights of all Tanzanians.”

President Samia also responded to recent diplomatic statements from international envoys expressing concern over the killing of political leaders.

While she acknowledged their expressions of sympathy, she firmly reminded them of Tanzania’s independence and sovereignty.

“Let me remind those expressing their concerns that Tanzania, as a sovereign nation, knows how to manage its own affairs. We have never directed our ambassadors abroad to interfere in their countries’ internal matters when similar incidents occur,” she said.

Referring to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, President Samia urged diplomats to respect established protocols and refrain from overstepping their boundaries.

“Diplomatic relations must be conducted with respect and in accordance with international conventions. We appreciate compassion, but Tanzania will always act according to its own constitution and laws.”

In a call for unity and collective responsibility, President Samia highlighted the government’s unwavering commitment to ensuring peace and security for all Tanzanians.

ALSO READ: Samia calls for unified action against crimes

As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, she assured the public that all necessary measures are being taken to prevent further loss of life and bring the perpetrators of violence to justice.

“Our constitution commands us to protect the lives of our citizens and we are bound by that oath. No one feels the pain of these killings more than us and we will not rest until justice is served,” she said.

As the country navigates this period of uncertainty and grief, President Samia called upon Tanzanians to stand together.

She urged leaders across all sectors, including political, religious and civil society, to exercise their influence responsibly and contribute to the promotion of peace.

“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that Tanzania remains a place where every citizen feels safe. To achieve that, we must all be accountable to the positions we hold and the duties we have sworn to uphold,” the President concluded.

Source: allafrica.com

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Tanzania: President Samia Hassan Issues Key Directives to Curb Crime Rates

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In: Tanzania Foreign Investment News

President Samia Suluhu Hassan has issued key directives to the police force aimed at strengthening public safety and addressing the growing crime rates in Tanzania.

To combat the growing threat of financial fraud, particularly online scams, President Samia pointed to the increase in digital transactions as a key driver for new criminal methods.

She revealed that in 2023 alone, over 5bn/- was lost to fraud, with the police recovering only 288m/-.

President Samia urged the police force to develop a comprehensive strategy to tackle cyber fraud as the government shifts towards a cashless economy.

“It is essential for the police to have a strategy to combat online fraud and we must collaborate with the relevant ministries to equip our police force with the tools needed to address this issue,” she said.

President Samia also urged the police to enhance road safety measures, following alarming statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that show a rise in road fatalities between 2022 and 2023.

According to the NBS, road accidents increased slightly from 1,720 in 2022, which claimed 1,545 lives, to 1,733 in 2023, resulting in 1,645 deaths. This brings the total number of fatalities over the past two years to 3,190.

“The rise in road accidents is largely attributed to human error, poor vehicle conditions and inadequate infrastructure. These issues must be addressed urgently,” President Samia said.

She noted that 37.9 per cent of last year’s accidents were caused by drivers’ negligence, 21.2 per cent by speeding and 13 per cent by careless motorcycle riders–all factors within the police’s control to rectify.

The president also said there is a need for the police to shift their focus on criminal investigations and control mechanisms and adapt to technological advancements.

She cited the NBS report on cybercrime, which saw a 36.1 per cent increase from 1,006 cases in 2022 to 1,369 by December 2023. Crimes such as spreading false information, distributing pornography images and online harassment were on the rise.

“With the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital platforms, the police must be well-prepared to tackle crimes related to misinformation, especially as we approach local and general elections,” President Samia said.

She highlighted the potential rise in politically motivated cybercrime, including defamation, hate speech and false allegations.

“We are not advocating for the shutdown of social media or silencing citizens’ opinions. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to crimes committed online. Crime is crime, whether it happens online or offline and the same legal measures should be applied,” she added.

As Tanzania gears up for the upcoming local government and general elections, President Samia stressed the importance of maintaining national unity and security throughout the election periods. She urged the police to remain vigilant before, during and after the elections to ensure peace and stability.

In her directives to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the police, the president called for the continued implementation of recommendations to strengthen the criminal justice system, particularly those that do not require legislative changes or significant budget increases.

ALSO READ: ‘4Rs not excuse for indiscipline’

She further urged the police to utilise Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve efficiency and crime control.

Among the initiatives she highlighted were the “safer city” projects, mandatory vehicle inspections to reduce road accidents and highway patrols. She stressed the importance of building the capacity of officers to implement these projects effectively.

Minister for Home Affairs, Hamad Masauni, expressed satisfaction with the police force’s progress, noting that many of the directives given by President Samia in the previous year’s meeting had been successfully implemented.

Source: allafrica.com

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