Unguja. A German national, Wolfgang Fretz, who is suspected of owning a marijuana farm in Paje-Unguja, Zanzibar, has had assets worth Sh518 million confiscated by the Zanzibar Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (ZDCE).
Fretz was arrested on October 17, 2023, after a tip-off from a concerned citizen reported that he had started a large-scale cannabis farming operation in Paje Village, located in the Southern District of South Unguja.
During the operation, authorities discovered modern cannabis seedling machines, a cannabis farm, and dried cannabis ready for sale, although the exact value of the cannabis remains undetermined.
Colonel Burhan Zubeir Nassor, Commissioner General of the ZDCE, confirmed that the seizure of assets was carried out under the Zanzibar Drug Control and Enforcement Act No. 8 of 2021.
In a separate case, the ZDCE has also confiscated assets belonging to Saleh Khamis Basmani of Chukwani, Western District B, and his wife, Dawari Abas Fakih.
These assets include a plot of land in Matemwe and a Honda Click motorcycle, valued at Sh422 million. Basmani and his wife are under investigation for further assets, both within Zanzibar and abroad.
Additionally, Mohamed Abdalla Juma, a government employee in the legal sector from Michenzani, has had a plot of land in Bweleo, Western District B, valued at Sh35 million confiscated.
Juma is suspected of collaborating with Basmani in a money laundering operation and smuggling phones used for criminal activities from Afghanistan.
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Tanzania Declares End of Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak
Tanzania today declared the end of Marburg virus disease outbreak after recording no new cases over 42 days since the death of the last confirmed case on 28 January 2025.
The outbreak, in which two confirmed and eight probable cases were recorded (all deceased), was the second the country has experienced. Both this outbreak, which was declared on 20 January 2025, and the one in 2023 occurred in the north-eastern Kagera region.
In response to the latest outbreak, Tanzania’s health authorities set up coordination and response systems, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, at the national and regional levels and reinforced control measures to swiftly detect cases, enhance clinical care, infection prevention as well as strengthen collaboration with communities to raise awareness and help curb further spread of the virus.
Growing expertise in public health emergency response in the African region has been crucial in mounting effective outbreak control measures. Drawing on experience from the response to the 2023 Marburg virus disease outbreak, WHO worked closely with Tanzanian health authorities to rapidly scale up key measures such as disease surveillance and trained more than 1000 frontline health workers in contact tracing, clinical care and public health risk communication. The Organization also delivered over five tonnes of essential medical supplies and equipment.
“The dedication of frontline health workers and the efforts of the national authorities and our partners have paid off,” said Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses, WHO Representative in Tanzania. “While the outbreak has been declared over, we remain vigilant to respond swiftly if any cases are detected and are supporting ongoing efforts to provide psychosocial care to families affected by the outbreak.”
Building on the momentum during the acute phase of the outbreak response, measures have been put in place to reinforce the capacity of local health facilities to respond to potential future outbreaks. WHO and partners are procuring additional laboratory supplies and other equipment for disease detection and surveillance and other critical services.
Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. They may develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
In the African region, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Source: allafrica.com
