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OBITUARIES

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by Ben Taylor

Ambassador Clement George Kahama

Ambassador Clement George Kahama


After a period of deteriorating health Ambassador Clement George Kahama, popularly known as “Sir George”, died in Dar es Salaam on 12 March 2017, aged 88. His long political career – first in local government and then at the national and international levels, and covering both the colonial and independence eras – spanned more than half a century. He was the longest serving Minister in Tanzania’s history, holding a wide range of portfolios.

Born in November 1929 in Karagwe (Kagera Region), Sir George was educated at the Ihungu Secondary School and then the Tabora Government Boys Upper Secondary School, prior to undertaking his higher education at Loughborough College in UK between 1952 and 1954. He then returned to Tanganyika to become the First General Manager of the Bukoba Native Cooperative Union Ltd (responsible for the purchase, processing and marketing of coffee, tea and other agricultural commoditie

s) and also to serve concurrently as Chairman of Bukoba District Council.
In 1957, he became a Nominated Member of the Tanganyika Legislative Council (LEGCO), representing the then West Lake province (now Kagera Region) and from 1958 was an elected MP for that Region. In the two years leading up to Independence he served as Minister for Social and Co-Operative Development in the transitional government.

In the three years immediately following Independence on 9 December 1961, Sir George served first as Minister for Home Affairs and then as Minister for Commerce and Industry, Communications, Transport and Works. He then began the first of three career stints overseas, serving in 1965 and 1966 as Tanzania’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and to the European Economic Community.
He returned to Dar es Salaam to become for the next seven years the General Manager and CEO of the National Development Corporation, the largest holding company in Tanzania. It was the period immediately after the Arusha Declaration and, during his stewardship, 89 industrial, agricultural, mining and commercial parastatal enterprises were established (some of them as joint ventures with transnational corporations).

Then for the ten years after 1973 George Kahama had responsibility for the planning, development and building of the new national capital, Dodoma. He discharged these responsibilities concurrently as both Minister of State in the President’s Office and as Director-General of the Capital Development Authority. They were challenging times but today Tanzania’s functioning new capital city stands as a testament to Sir George’s determination to realise Mwalimu Nyerere’s vision.

Next, serving as Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism in 1983 and 1984, George Kahama turned his attention to developing and promoting the spectacular game reserves and national parks for which Tanzania is famed worldwide. Then, for the succeeding five years he served as Tanzania’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the People’s Republic of China, with concurrent accreditation to Vietnam, North Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand.

From Beijing he moved to Harare, serving next as the Tanzanian High Commissioner to Zimbabwe in 1989 and 1990.

Then, as the domestic economic reform programmes took root and the Tanzanian government made moves to liberalise the economy and to welcome private and foreign investment, Sir George was recalled to Dar es Salaam in 1990 to establish and run the Tanzanian Investment Promotion Centre (now TIC). He was the Centre’s First Director-General, in the President’s Office.

Between 1995 and 2000 Sir George continued in Parliament as the MP for Karagwe. George Kahama’s last Cabinet portfolio was as Minister for Cooperatives and Marketing, a post he held for five years until his retirement from active politics in November 2005.

Sir George served each of Tanzania’s first three Presidents (Nyerere, Mwinyi and Mkapa). He was a man of many accomplishments, discharging each of his responsibilities with an almost boundless energy. Few people, even those in high office, are as fortunate as he to have such opportunities to lay the foundations for the development of a major new nation like Tanzania. Moreover, as a devoted Catholic, Sir George was honoured with two special Presidential assignments. In 1962, he represented President Nyerere at the inaugural meeting of the Second Ecumenical Council in the Vatican, returning to Rome in 2005 to represent President Mkapa at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

Many in the older generation of Tanzanians remember George Kahama with fondness. In retirement he was Chairman of a number of private Tanzanian companies. He lived with his family in Msasani and is survived by his wife Janet and eight children. After lying-in-State at the Julius Nyerere Convention Centre, followed by a memorial service on 16 March at St Peter’s Oysterbay – a service attended by many government and CCM leaders both past and present as well as by other dignitaries – Sir George was laid to rest in Kinondoni Cemetery.

I had the privilege of working with Sir George in a Commonwealth advisory capacity in the early 1990s when he was heading the Tanzanian Investment Promotion Centre, and I came to know him and some of his family well. I am especially grateful to his eldest surviving son, Richard Kahama, for having provided his Father’s detailed CV and for his approval of this Obituary. Roger M Nellist with special thanks to Richard Kahama

Philemon Ndesamburo
The death of Philemon Ndesamburo; business tycoon, Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) co-founder, and former MP, brought the town of Moshi to a standstill as thousands suspended their activities. Current Chadema National Chairman Freeman Mbowe led procession carting the casket through the town. Permission for the procession had initially been denied by the police, but the decision was reversed following a public outcry, though the planned route and destination were altered.

Born on February 19, 1935 in Old Moshi ward, Moshi District in Kilimanjaro Region, went on to become a successful businessman, generous philanthropist and seasoned politician. He was fondly referred by many as Mzee Ndesa while others, due to his sound financial situation, added, Mzee Ndesa Pesa.

With a degree in Agricultural Business from the University of London, UK, in the 1970s he was reportedly posted to a position he considered not conforming to what he studied. Instead, he opted for life out of the government system.

He first ventured openly in politics in pursuit of reforms in 1988 as one of a small group advocating for changes to the national constitution. With the advent of multi-party democracy, he was among the first ten members of Chadema. He lost two hard-fought electoral campaigns against Augustino Mrema, in 1994 for Councillor of Kiboriloni Ward in Moshi and in 1995 for Moshi Urban parliamentary seat, before eventually winning the same seat in the 2000 elections. He held the seat until his retirement in 2015.

But his influence within Chadema extended well beyond his own electoral career. Ndesamburo earned a position for himself as the kingmaker and the financier of last resort to opposition politicians, particularly in northern regions. He also served as Central Committee (CC) member, Kilimanjaro regional chairman, and a member of the Chadema Board of Trustees.

As an opposition politician, Ndesamburo preferred to tell the government what it should do in a persuasive manner rather than adopting the brash and confrontational style of many opposition politicians. Just a week before his death, he discussed President John Magufuli’s industrialisation drive, arguing that it would not attain the desired results if it was not linked to agriculture, which remains the backbone of Tanzania’s economy. “The two sectors have to complement each other for the economic take off desired,” he said in an interview.

Chadema Co-Founder and first Chairman Edwin Mtei, a senior official in the first phase government, attributed the success of the party to the late Ndesamburo. Mr Mtei who was. “We knew each other since our childhood; we rented and later built houses at nearby areas in Dar es Salaam. We collaborated for a long time since we were at Old Moshi Mahoma and later in the party. We initiated it as an empty set and now it is the main opposition party. … It is his courage and ability that got us here,” said Mr Mtei.

Brian Harris
Born in Neath, South Wales, in 1929, Brian Harris went to the Neath Grammar School for Boys and then to Aberystwyth University, where he studied agricultural botany and became an expert plant scientist. Later he undertook a PhD. He shared interests in natural history with his wife Sine MacLachlainn, from Mull, who was also a botanist. Brian was eventually appointed to teaching posts with his wife. Together they worked in several African universities including in Ghana, Nigeria and the University of Dar es Salaam, where Brian was Head of Botany.

Brian brought many positive, new ideas to the University of Dar es Salaam: he saw the need for a herbarium and saw to it that the herbarium had a staff, and was himself interested in the campus grounds. He was also a great naturalist and ecologist, including work on bat pollination in African plants.

Following his retirement in 1990, Brian relocated to Edinburgh. But his love of plants and flowers continued as he threw himself into a variety of community projects in the city.

Recently he had suffered from cancer of the larynx, from which he was recovering, but sadly he died after a short illness on 20th April 2017.
With thanks to Heather Goodare of the Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links (FOMBL) in Edinburgh, and to Kim Howell.

REVIEWS

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by Martin Walsh

THE DELUSION OF KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER: THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN AID EXPERTS ON POLICY-MAKING IN SOUTH AFRICA AND TANZANIA. Susanne Koch and Peter Weingart. African Minds, Cape Town, 2016. xii + 384 pp. (paperback). ISBN 978-1-928331-39-1. £40.00.

The aid industry has come under increasing attack in recent years. Indeed, use of the word ‘industry’ in this context already carries pejorative overtones. At first, large insufficiently supported capital projects were the main targets, leading to an increasing emphasis on technical support. In this book, however, the argument is that the latter is also inherently flawed. Are we to conclude then that all attempts to bring assistance to developing countries, no matter how well intentioned, are doomed to failure?

In fact, the authors’ critique is more narrowly focused. Their particular concern is the failure of expert advice to foster ‘the national capacity for self-reliance’. Rather, they argue, ‘the persistent interference by outside actors in our view undermines the development of young into strong democracies as it puts governments at risk of losing control over their own policy agendas (p. 2)’. Related to this, ‘we take it to be a core aspect of sovereignty that states govern themselves and define their own policies (p. 6)’ – shades of Brexit here! A sceptic might object that this rather purist position insufficiently recognises the possibility of governments (not just in developing countries) adopting and pursuing wrong-headed policies (think South Africa and AIDS during the Mbeki years) and that the democratic deficit in policy-making may be due as much to local institutional weaknesses as to over-influential foreign experts. Nevertheless, their ultimate conclusion that more should be done to harness local knowledge and to foster local institutions which can enable such knowledge to play a greater part in the policy process is well made.

In support of their thesis, the authors have carried out case studies in Tanzania and South Africa, covering policy development in education, health and forestry. These are fascinating and the extensive quotations from interviewees merit close study by anyone involved in technical assistance, whether as donors or recipients. In deference to TA readers, we focus here on the Tanzania cases.

In education, the conclusion is that the policy agenda in Tanzania has been ‘hi-jacked’ by the foreign experts involved in the Education Development Partners Group: ‘In a nutshell, the state of education governance in Tanzania could be sketched as follows: the need for foreign financing has legitimated an intense involvement of external actors in the policy space in which aid money has become the central preoccupation. The prevailing sentiment of being at the mercy of donors has paralysed leadership and administration which fails to set or refrains from articulating an agenda of its own.’ One consequence was over-enrolment in schools, beyond the available capacity of either buildings or teachers, leading to falling standards. In contrast, South Africa is found to have been more successful in exploiting outside expertise to create a local vision. This is attributed to: lesser financial dependence on donors; competition between donors, leading to greater responsiveness to local needs and priorities; the careful approach of the authorities towards advice and assistance; and participation of various local stakeholders to counterbalance influence from outside.

The story in health is somewhat different. A number of policy initiatives were taken in the 1990s to rescue Tanzania’s health services from the serious decline that had occurred under the structural adjustment policies of the 1980s. This culminated in most donors participating in a constructive ‘sector-wide approach’ with ‘basket funding’ under strong Tanzanian leadership. However, this benign arrangement was then disrupted by the entry of global health initiatives with massive financial backing, particularly in relation to HIV/AIDS. Up to this point, Tanzanian policy gave priority to prevention and mitigation measures. With hundreds of millions of dollars on offer, the Tanzanians had little option but to go along with the programmes and policies imposed by the Global Fund, PEPFAR and the Clinton Foundation, which emphasised treatment with antiretroviral drugs, despite practical difficulties in implementing such a policy. Moreover, one of the most problematic issues related to the entry of global health initiatives in Tanzania was that ‘they not only shifted the bulk of the HIV budget to treatment but also skewed the overall resource allocation in health towards HIV/AIDS at the expense of other crucial areas and prevalent diseases (p. 249).’ In addition, ‘While the dialogue forums in health and HIV/ AIDS were actually established to reduce donor influence and induce a more distant form of advice, it de facto brought aid actors closer to decision-making insofar as it entrenched their participation in policy development, analysis and evaluation (p. 257)’. Meanwhile, South Africa was more successful in harnessing outside finance and advice in support of its own agenda (at least, once Aaron Motsoaledi had become Health Minister).

The third case covered environmental policy, particularly forestry. Here external advice played a large part in mainstreaming environmental policy in Tanzania and helping to secure passage of the Forest Act (2002) and the Environmental Management Act (2004), which was regarded as a model of its kind. However, disillusion soon set in. A combination of low priority for environmental actions in budget setting, misappropriation of funds and insufficient administrative capacity resulted in a situation where ‘environmental policies and legislation are hardly put into practice (p. 290)’. In response, donor support either faded away or was redirected into the new international enthusiasm for REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Again, South Africa did better, thanks mainly to strong local expertise.

The concluding chapters of the book review the relative importance of financial strength, administrative capacity and the local knowledge base in the light of the case studies. They find that ‘it is insufficient to explain external influence on policy-making with a single factor.’ The final chapter heading nevertheless is ‘There is no substitute for local knowledge’ and the authors make suggestions to strengthen its influence. Evidently this cannot be a quick fix, leaving open the question how donors and recipients are supposed to work constructively together in the meantime. The case studies do however offer some pointers as to how the more egregious practices can be avoided. For those keen to learn more, the book includes a very full bibliography.
Hugh Wenban-Smith
Hugh Wenban-Smith was born in Chunya and went to Mbeya School. His career was as a government economist (mainly in Britain, but with periods in Zambia and India). He is now an independent research economist, with particular interests in infrastructure, urbanisation and transport.

THE ENDURING RELEVANCE OF WALTER RODNEY’S ‘HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA’. Karim Hirji. Daraja Press, Montreal, 2017. 134 pp. (paperback). ISBN 978-0-9952223-9-7. £8.80.

Karim Hirji argues succinctly that Walter Rodney’s inspirational book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (HEUA), retains its long-term relevance because it articulates a strategy for the total economic independence of Africa as well as the emancipation of Africa and its people. Hirji knew Rodney personally and he explains that as the struggles for independence matured, a Marxist strand of political economy which demonstrated that Europe has an exploitative relationship with Africa emerged. Rodney was not a mechanical borrower of ideas from other progressives. He was a critical scholar and classical Marxist whose theoretical framework of analysis was based on Marxist political economy.

From the 15th century onwards African societies came under the hegemony of western imperialism, and colonial policies prevented genuine capitalist development. Rodney thought that the African masses must take the control of state power, disengage from the global capitalist system, adopt socialism, and use its wealth to develop society. He proposed a strategy of integrated economic development for the liberation of African nations, but his book became a target for elitist right-wing intellectuals for its anti-imperialist stance. Its content, methods and conclusions were scrutinised by many, including some progressive academics. Because Rodney advanced the Marxist idea that economic factors are the primary motor of African history, he is accused of economic determinism by conventional historians who fail to see anything wrong with the cultural and demographic determinism that they adopt in their own analyses.

Another criticism of Rodney’s book is its explanation of the role played by external factors in the transformation of Africa during the slave trade and after. Rodney understood capitalism as a global system and imperialism as an economically-driven phenomenon facilitating the extraction of surplus, and so the underdevelopment of Africa. However, some African and Western scholars argue that Rodney’s thesis is not relevant for the postcolonial period, and that poverty in Africa cannot be attributed to imperialism but instead must be blamed on corrupt leadership. Their proposed solution is the adoption of neoliberal policies with economic liberalisation and the promotion of foreign investment. As Hirji points out, this is an approach that merely pretends to scientific objectivity.

Rodney wrote about a continent that had been exploited for centuries. His work had to be exceptional because he was breaking the silence that had been maintained by academia itself. And in order to expose the truth of Africa’s underdevelopment he brought in new ideas and adopted a unique style. Rodney was a committed Marxist scholar and activist who continually enhanced his perspective through study and struggle. While engaging with local realities on ‘The Hill’, his views evolved. By the mid-1970s he had realised that the rhetoric of Tanzanian socialism masked the neocolonial dependency being implemented in the country.

He mingled with both intellectuals and the masses. I first met Rodney during his lecture on the Cuban Revolution at the University of Dar es Salaam. He was a very powerful orator and captivated the academic audience. Together with Hirji, Issa Shivji and other comrades, we went with him to the Ujamaa villages in Bagamoyo and Dodoma to work with the peasants. Personally, I treasure the few days that I spent with him when he had fallen sick while on his way to Njombe with his wife Pat and children, Asha, Shaka and Kanini. He stopped over at our humble home in Mzumbe, Morogoro, and my wife Salha and I were able to spend a few days with him and his family while he recuperated.

Hirji points out that the main theme of HEUA remains as relevant for Africa today as it did in 1972 when it was first published. The book enables one to understand the continent’s past and the path it is taking, as well as the grave social economic problems that Africa has faced. The result was a ground-breaking work of scholarship. For the first time the real causes of underdevelopment in Africa were exposed, and Rodney’s book was widely read in Africa and the Caribbean.

Today, however, there are conscious efforts in some quarters to disqualify Rodney’s thesis. Indeed, most historians now studying African history hardly ever make reference to him. Even in the university seminar rooms, HEUA seems to be completely forgotten. Students rarely read a fair depiction of the contribution of Rodney’s Marxist approach: instead he is often misquoted. It is therefore timely for Hirji to remind us of his magisterial work. He discusses Rodney as a humane revolutionary and radical scholar who supported student activism and radical writing in the campuses of different universities. Despite determined attempts to silence Rodney, his inspiration to change the society for the better and fight for a just and non-racial future remains strong.
Georgios Hadjivayanis
Dr Georgios Hadjivayanis is a retired Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Anthropology. He did his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Dar es Salaam where he was actively involved in student politics. His memoir of that period is published in Cheche which was edited by Karim Hirji. He did his doctoral studies at Pantheon Sorbonne in France. He was one the founding Directors of Haki Ardhi, and taught at Mzumbe and Sokoine universities in Morogoro prior to moving to South Africa. He is currently based in London.

JOHN THOMAS MHINA SEPEKU, ASKOFU MKUU WA KWANZA, KANISA ANGLIKANA, TANZANIA. Augustino S.L.Ramadhani. Mkuki na Nyota, Dar es Salaam, 2017. 287 pp. (paperback). ISBN 978-9987-75-394-9. TSh. 25,000.

John Sepeku was one of the outstanding personalities in the first generation of church leaders following national independence. Born in Misozwe, Tanga, in 1908, he became first Anglican Bishop of Dar es Salaam in 1965, and first Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Tanzania in 1970. He was educated at St. Andrew’s College, Minaki, Kisarawe, one of the two best existing secondary schools. In his final year when Sepeku was Head Prefect, the Headmaster, Canon Gibbons, commented: “Has the courage of his convictions. Is a leader and has real ‘dini’ (that is, genuine religious faith). Cannot speak too highly of him.”

The author is himself an outstanding personality. Augustino Ramadhani was Chief Judge of Zanzibar from 1980-89, then Chief Judge of Tanzania from 2007-10, and finally President of Africa’s International Court of Human Rights. Before his retirement as judge in 2016, the author was ordained as an Anglican priest in Zanzibar in 2013. He knew John Sepeku very well, and this excellent biography has been written out of love and gratitude. It is now 34 years since Sepeku died. Inevitably there are a few gaps in the story, but the author has brilliantly succeeded in writing an extensive account of his life, by using a variety of written sources, as well as live interviews. As the author remarks, his book is more than a biography. It is also a brief history of the Anglican Church, tracing it back to the days of David Livingstone’s appeal, made to British and Irish universities in 1857, to send missionaries to rid Africa of the scourge of the slave trade, and to spread the light of Christianity. It was this historic appeal which led directly to the founding of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), which in 1965 was incorporated in the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG). John Sepeku was nurtured in this ecclesiastical tradition, but never restricted by it. He formed friendships across church boundaries, and both as bishop and archbishop sought to bring harmony and break down divisions.

In 1960 the Anglican Province of East Africa was inaugurated, bringing together for the first time the two different missionary traditions of the UMCA and the CMS (Church Missionary Society) into one autonomous body. When the diocese of Dar es Salaam was founded in 1965, Sepeku became its first bishop. From the start he welcomed and made provision for Christians from the evangelical ‘CMS’ dioceses, and co-operated closely with Gresford Chitemo, his neighbouring bishop in Morogoro. Then, in 1970, just two days before the nation celebrated its National Independence Day, the Church of the Province of Tanzania was inaugurated. John Sepeku was enthroned as its first archbishop, having been elected by his seven fellow bishops in Tanzania. Chosen by the Archbishop of Canterbury to preside at the closing Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference in 1978, he stepped down as archbishop in the same year, and continued as bishop until he died in 1983.

Often called the ‘farmer’ bishop because of his ‘hands-on’ commitment to developing diocesan land for horticulture, John Sepeku was also instrumental in providing urban land in the city for educational and social projects, such as the Kichwele Women’s Hostel for single girls, St. Mark’s Theological College, and a School for Deaf Children.

As archbishop, John Sepeku travelled widely throughout Tanzania, building on his knowledge of the different backgrounds and church traditions to bring about a sense of a genuinely indigenous Tanzanian church, diverse but essentially one.

A natural leader, who could be authoritarian and stern, John Sepeku was widely acknowledged to be at heart a humble pastor, compassionate and just, whose advice was sought not only by bishops and priests but also by government leaders. Judge Ramadhani has written a masterly book in which he brings out clearly the exceptional qualities of this great church leader. He has written a brief English synopsis. The book is now awaiting a full translation, but meanwhile it should be recommended reading for all current and aspiring leaders of church and state.
Graeme Watson
Revd Graeme Watson worked as a missionary priest and teacher in Tanzania from 1967 to 1977. He was Tutor at St. Cyprian’s College, Lindi, 1967-77; Vice-Principal of St. Mark’s Theological College, Dar es Salaam, 1969-73; and Rector of St. Alban’s Church, Dar es Salaam, 1974- 77.

WAR ON DRUGS TAKES WORRYING TWIST

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by Ben Taylor

Makonda presents his list of names

At the start of February, the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Paul Makonda, embarked on a high-profile anti-drugs campaign. Makonda has long been a controversial figure. He held prominent roles in the CCM Youth Wing and was accused of disrupting a public meeting in 2014 at which Justice Warioba was due to speak about the constitutional review process. He has something in common with Magufuli, being active and highly visible, keeping people on their toes, and willing on occasion to disregard the niceties of due process.

Makonda released a list of 97 names of people he claimed were involved in illegal drug use and trade, and demanded that they report to the police. The list included the official leader of the opposition in parliament, Freeman Mbowe, wealthy Pentecostal pastor, Bishop Josephat Gwajima, celebrities such as the film actress and socialite, Wema Sepetu, musician and DJ, Vanessa Mdee, and hip-hop artist, Khalid Mohammed (“T.I.D.”). It also included Yusuf Manji, one of Tanzania’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen, the CEO of Quality Group and Chairman of Young Africans Football Club, and several police officers and prominent business leaders. Makonda also named several sites around Dar as hotspots for illicit drug trade, including the Slipway resort and the Dar Yacht Club.

In response, twelve police officers were suspended pending investigations, and the nation was treated to a daily saga of arrests and court appearances, covered by both the serious media and celebrity-obsessed tabloids. Sepetu switched her allegiance from CCM to Chadema. Bishop Gwajima brought a church choir to sing outside the police station while he was interviewed inside. Mbowe was granted a temporary injunction by the High Court barring the police from arresting him, though they were still allowed to investigate and question him. Manji threatened to sue Makonda for defamation, and found himself in further difficulties when the investigations on drugs discovered a number of Indian nationals working for Quality Group without proper permits. He spent several days in custody of the Immigration Department, including some time in hospital.

Makonda’s approach drew strong criticism, led by opposition politicians but also drawing sympathy and support from some within the ruling party. Bishop Gwajima fought back, bringing up long-standing allegations that Makonda has fake academic certificates and that Paul Makonda is not even his real name. Similar accusations have cost many public servants their jobs under President Magufuli.

Nape Nnauye, Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, said his ministry supported the efforts by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner to “clean up” the region, but insisted that the authorities should employ wisdom in dealing with suspects. “This matter has sparked public debate especially on how the artistes have been handled. … I believe there are other ways which are more practical in dealing with this complex matter.”

Several politicians and media commentators called on the President to rein Makonda in. But though he did respond to some of the concerns – for example by appointing a long-serving police officer to fill the vacant post of Commissioner General for the Drug Control Commission – he gave his backing to Makonda, saying the war on drugs was so important that it should not matter whose relation somebody might be: “even if you find my wife is involved, arrest her.”

In mid-March the tussle between Makonda, Gwajima and then Nnauye turned sour. A rumour began circulating that Clouds, a TV and radio station, had come into possession of a video (of unknown provenance) in which a woman accused Bishop Gwajima of being the father of her child, and of abusing his position to extract sexual favours. Makonda paid a late-night visit to Clouds, accompanied by armed security officers, demanding that they broadcast the video. The visit was captured on the station’s CCTV cameras, and shared widely on social media. An outcry followed: the media saw this as a brazen attack on media freedom and was forthright in its criticism. The Tanzania Editors’ Forum and Union of Tanzanian Press Clubs named Makonda “enemy of the media number one”, and agreed to implement a media blackout.

As Minister for Information, Nape Nnauye set up a small team to investigate what had taken place, while President Magufuli jumped to Makonda’s defence. Nnauye’s committee reported back, with strident criticism of Makonda’s actions. Nnauye thanked them for their work, but in an apparently reconciliatory call for clemency spoke about how “we must recognise that everyone makes mistakes.” However, the following morning, Nnauye was sacked from the cabinet. The official statement announcing this decision did not mention him by name, simply stating that a new Minister, Harrison Mwakyembe, had been appointed.

Nnauye arranged a press conference for 2pm that afternoon. But as he stepped out of his vehicle in the car park of St Peter’s Catholic Church in Oyster Bay, he was surrounded by a large number of journalists and others. An unknown man – later reported by some newspapers to be an intelligence officer – stepped up and tried to force him back into his vehicle. When Nnauye resisted, the man drew a pistol and waved it around, but fortunately calm heads intervened and the situation was resolved without anyone getting hurt.

Nnauye was understandably upset. “I come here and stand up, someone has a gun, tells me get back in the car. Who gave you that authority? You are paid by our taxes, by our sweat, and then you come with your stupidity and tell me to get back in the car. How? … As I said before, there is a price to be paid when standing up for people’s rights, and I am ready to pay that price.” He added, “I don’t see why the security forces are panicking, I don’t see why people are panicking. Nape is small compared to this country, our country is huge compared to Nape. Let’s not get stressed about Nape, let’s get stressed about where our Tanzania is going. That is bigger than anything else.”

The following day, while formally appointing the new Minister and other new officials, President Magufuli referred to the incident, and in particular to how the media had reported it: “Just look at today’s newspapers: all the pictures, the headlines are about someone who made one mistake, as if the act has been done by the government or with government support. … I tell media owners: be careful, watch it! If you think you have that kind of freedom … not to that extent.” He pointed out that the media had played a key role in inciting the Rwandan genocide.

At the time of writing, Home Affairs Minister, Mwigulu Nchemba, has promised to look into the events in St Peter’s car park, and the new Minister of Information has promised to listen to all sides in the Clouds-Makonda case. Makonda remains in post and continues to pursue his campaign against drug users and dealers, though with a lower profile and perhaps more cautious approach.

POLITICS & MISCELLANY

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CCM reforms and disciplinary measures

The CCM National Congress approved a series of changes to the party’s constitution. The major changes include a reduction of members of the party’s top organs, a reduction of party meeting frequencies and the abolition of unconstitutional posts. The party’s National Executive Committee now has 163 members, down from 388, and the Central Committee has reduced from 34 to 24 members. Other reforms include prohibition of multi-leadership posts within the party.

Addressing the party congress, the party chairman, President Magufuli, said the reforms aimed at boosting efficiency and reducing dependence on financiers. “This is a big party, we have 8.5 million members, we have resources and many sources of income, there is no need for us to continue begging,” he said.

At the same series of meetings, the party’s National Executive Committee stripped 18 senior figures of their party membership, including former Minister Sophia Simba. This move was interpreted widely as a purge of key supporters of Edward Lowassa who had remained in the party after his defection from CCM to Chadema in the run up to the 2015 election. Others, including Central Committee member, Emmanuel Nchimbi, were given “strong warnings”, or “forgiven”, as in the case of the party’s chairman for Dodoma Region, Adam Kimbisa.

In July 2015, Simba, Nchimbi, and Kimbisa as members of CCM’s central committee publicly opposed the decision of the party’s central committee to remove Lowassa from a shortlist of presidential candidates, saying they disagreed with the manner in which the presidential hopefuls were short-listed. (Daily News, The Guardian)

New scrutiny of foreign nationals’ immigration status
A government notice issued in February “invited” all employers and non-citizens working in Tanzania to participate in a formal verification exercise. The notice, issued by the Labour Commissioner in the Prime Minister’s Office, gave all non-Tanzanians currently working in the country 30 days to submit their work permits to the nearest labour office for verification purposes.

In April, the Immigration Department then launched an electronic verification system for use in scrutinising and approving residential permit applications by foreigners coming to live or work in the country. “The system is simple, and offers the opportunity for employers and foreigners already with resident permits to verify their documents and confirm that they have been issued by relevant authorities,” said the department’s Commissioner General, Dr Anna Makalala.

This follows the publication in late 2016 of new regulations governing the employment of non-citizens in Tanzania. The regulations, provide some clarifications on the procedures, timelines and document checklists for processing each type of work permit, including grounds for exemptions.
(Further detail on the new regulations is available from FB Attorneys: http:// fbattorneys.com/legal-update-15-march-2017/) (The Citizen, The Guardian)

Power struggle at Tanganyika Law Society
Tundu Lissu, a senior MP for the opposition party, Chadema, was elected as President of the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS). This followed a power struggle in which senior government ministers threatened to deregister the society if it elected a politician to a leadership role. In the week before his election, Mr Lissu was arrested twice and charged with sedition at a Dar es Salaam court before being released on bail.

According to some TLS members, the government threats against TLS backfired, motivating the society’s members to back Lissu in order to protect their professional independence. Mr Lissu said his victory had nothing to do with his political party, Chadema, and promised to serve all lawyers impartially. (The Guardian)

Ban on alcohol sold in sachets
A ban on selling alcohol in small plastic sachets – known as “viroba”
– came into force in March. Many shops were left with large stocks that they are unable to sell, and customers were forced either to stop drinking or to shift to comparatively more expensive bottled liquor. The cheapest viroba drinks retailed at TSh 500, the cheapest bottles cost around TSh 3,500. Manufacturers asked for more time to adjust to bottling technology.

The Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, said the fondness for viroba was killing large numbers of young Tanzanians, including students, since different brands were available in plastic sachets at virtually every street corner, even close to primary schools.

Banditry in Coast Region
There is widespread concern at a recent wave of killings of local government leaders and police officers in Coast Region. In the most deadly incident, eight officers were shot dead by an armed gang in mid-April.

Commissioner of Police for Training and Operation, Nsato Mssanzya told journalists that the police had launched a manhunt in response, had discovered the criminals’ temporary hideout and in an exchange of gunfire had killed four bandits. He added that there was no evidence to link the ongoing incidents with terrorism, but rather that it seemed a small group of criminals was causing fear in the area.

Home Affairs Minister, Mwigulu Nchemba, said the government has increased the number of police officers and facilities in Kibiti District in Coast Region as part of establishing a special police zone.

It was also reported that political parties were having difficulty persuading qualified candidates to stand for village leadership roles in the region, as several village leaders have also been killed in recent months. (Daily News, The Citizen)

Call for Maji-Maji compensation
The Minister of Defence and National Service, Hussein Mwinyi, said the government is preparing to ask the German government to compensate those who were affected by the Maji Maji war. He was initially responding to questions in parliament, and followed this up in an interview with German media outlet, Deutsche Welle. German soldiers are accused of crimes including forced starvation following the tribal revolt known as Maji Maji between 1905 and 1907.

“Compensation is what we are looking for and there are a few other examples in the African region of countries who have asked for this,” said the Minister. He added that the idea was “to compensate those who lost their lives and of course there are some surviving victims of the war. But those who lost their lives, they have people who could benefit from it.” (Deutsche Welle)

3.6 MILLION YEAR OLD FOOTPRINTS

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Preliminary digging and cleaning operations at Laetoli Site S. Photo Sofia Menconero http://www.paleoantropologia.it

Additional footprints belonging to a group of early humans have been uncovered in Laetoli, Tanzania, dating from 3.6 million years ago. The prints were made when five of our ancient ancestors walked across wet volcanic ash.

The 13 footprints were discovered by an international group of researchers, led by Sapienza University in Rome. The researchers believe that they belong to five members of Australopithecus afarensis – the pre-human species best known for the fossil skeleton, nicknamed ‘Lucy.’ Professor Giorgio Manzi, lead author of the study, said: “This novel evidence, taken as a whole with the previous findings, portrays several early hominins moving as a group through the landscape following a volcanic eruption and subsequent rainfall.”

“The footprints of one of the new individuals are astonishingly larger than anyone else’s in the group, suggesting that he was a large male member of the species,” he added.

Based on measurements of the length and width of the footprints, stride length and the angle of the gait, the male weighed around 48kg (100lbs) and measured about 5 foot 5 (165cm), while the lightest of the group only weighed 28.5kg.

Researchers say the footprints suggest that members of Australopithecus afarensis may have had a social arrangement of one dominant male mating with several females.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

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by David Brewin

President Magufuli spent his first very active few months in charge after his election dealing with major matters at home. Now the tireless president has begun taking time to deal with foreign relations, particularly foreign financial relations. The results are already beginning to be seen.

China
He has begun by ‘looking East’ for trade especially to China and Turkey. Major issues of interest to Tanzania have been centred on the standard gauge railway, the proposed new port in Bagamoyo and the establishment of up to 700 factories in Tanzania in three years. China has risen from the sixth largest foreign investor in 2011 to second place after the UK more recently.

Mozambique
Mozambique recently expelled about 200 Tanzanians who are alleged to have been living in the country illegally. The Ministry of Home Affairs was said to be verifying claims of abuse against these people including allegations of beatings and rape. The passports of some deportees were seized. The crackdown was conducted in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado where some 3,000 Tanzanians are said to be living.

Morocco
Following the King of Morocco’s recent tour of Africa, including Tanzania, Morocco has continued its efforts to be re-admitted to the African Union. The country already has the backing of a simple majority of African states following its mobilisation of 28 countries – 52% of the of the AU membership. Morocco withdrew from the Organisation of African unity (OAU) – the precursor to the African Union (AU) – in 1984 when the OAU admitted Western Sahara, a disputed region on the Atlantic coastline between Morocco to the north, Algeria to the east and Mauritania to the south. Morocco’s claim to this phosphate-rich territory in 1975 followed the withdrawal of Spain which had colonised the Western Sahara for many years. Conflict between the different parties was apparently settled in 1990 when it was said that the people of the former Spanish colony would have a referendum over their right to self-determination. But Morocco argued that the Western Sahara is an integral part of its kingdom while the Polisario Front had been campaigning for the territory’s independence. Morocco has repeatedly failed to hold the proposed referendum.

In a recent letter from the King to the current Chairman of the AU, Chadian President Idriss Deby he wrote: “We need to take the path of lucidity and courage, which our elders, the first pan Africans, had privileged. … That is why, on the question of the Sahara, institutional Africa can no longer endure the burdens of a historical error and a cumbersome legacy. Since this so-called state is not a member of the UN, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the League of Arab States nor any other sub-regional, regional or international institution, is not the present situation in clear contradiction with international legality?”

Rwanda and the Swahili language
Rwanda is planning to introduce the Swahili language in its school curriculum by next year as part of plans to adopt it as an official language. At present Swahili is taught as an optional subject at primary and high school levels but French is declining in importance.

Turkey and Portugal
A joint venture between a Turkish and a Portuguese company has won the tender for construction of 205km of the proposed new Standard gauge railway. This is part of the 1,200km stretch that will eventually link Dar es Salaam with the rest of the country as well as with Rwanda and Burundi, is to be constructed at a total cost of US $1.2 billion. Tanzania is hoping to secure soft loans from development partners and financial institutions for implementation of the plan. The Turkish/Portuguese firms which were selected beat 39 other bidders for this project which will take 2½ years to build. It had been widely expected that Chinese firms would obtain the contract, but Turkey’s forceful President Erdogan visited Tanzania recently and things changed. According to The East African, the Turkish president used the opportunity of his visit to Tanzania to ask for a loan from Turkey’s state-owned Export Credit Bank to help finance part of the new rail line.

Israel
Tanzania’s long-standing support for the people of Palestine and coolness towards Israel is changing. President Magufuli, following the opening last year in Israel of a visa processing centre to boost tourism from Tanzania, has now stated his intention to open an embassy in Tel Aviv. Israeli tourist charters are already landing regularly at Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar airports.

Uganda
The latest VIP to come to Dar es Salaam on a state visit has been President Museveni of Uganda. In an official statement in Kampala following the visit, President Museveni confirmed that the major oil pipeline for Uganda oil would be constructed in Tanzania rather than Kenya and that agreement had been reached on the route (Hoima to Tanga) – and costs ($3.5 billion). People in Kampala were talking about the ‘Museveni magic.’ It is hoped that Ugandan oil will be produced by about 2020.

BUSINESS & THE ECONOMY

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by Ben Taylor

Jim Kim in Tanzania: World Bank to lend $2.4bn
The World Bank President, Dr Jim Yong Kim, visited Tanzania in March, promising $2.4bn worth of loans for infrastructure projects in Tanzania over the next three years. As part of a ceremony to lay a foundation stone for a new “flyover” interchange at Ubungo in Dar es Salaam, Dr Kim and President Magufuli witnessed the signing of three contracts worth a total of $780m – for improvements in transport infrastructure, water supplies in Dar es Salaam and urban development projects elsewhere in the country.

Further projects at various stages of planning include finance for upgrading port services and rail infrastructure in and around Dar es Salaam, and for projects in the health, education, agriculture and energy sectors.

“The World Bank has been a true friend in pushing our development agenda; they issue long term loans with an affordable interest rate of just 0.5 per cent,” said President Magufuli.

Dr Kim praised President Magufuli for the purge on corruption and his vision of development towards the Tanzania Vision 2025 which seek to transform the country into a middle-income economy. He added that the $2.4bn figure represented an increase of half a billion dollars over the previous three-year period. (Reuters, Daily News)

Uncertainty in cement
President Magufuli took steps to resolve the energy problems facing the Dangote cement works in Mtwara, though many questions remain unanswered and uncertainty around energy supplies for the sector looks set to continue for some time.

The dispute arose last year after the government proved unable to fulfil the promises it had made to Dangote Group with regard to supplies of gas to the factory, and then took issue with Dangote’s decision to import coal from South Africa – banning coal imports in response. The factory later suspended operations, citing “operational issues”, putting several thousand jobs at risk.

In March, the President directed that Dangote Group should be allowed to carry out its own mining activities to source coal locally, and instructed the National Development Corporation (NDC) to allocate the firm a section of Ngaka coal mine at Mbinga, in Ruvuma region. “You should therefore give Dangote a piece of land at the mine so that he can produce coal for his factory,” said President Magufuli, referring to Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, who was in attendance. A week later, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals yesterday handed a 10-square-kilometre plot in Ngaka to Dangote.

Dr Magufuli also directed the Minister of Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, to make sure that natural gas was directly delivered to Dangote Cement Company as soon as possible. It doesn’t make sense that natural gas is transported to Dar es Salaam, some 500 kilometres away, and not to Dangote Cement, which is only about 10 kilometres from where the gas is produced,” he added.

However, a number of other cement companies have similar issues with supplies of energy, and the ban on imports of coal. ARM Cement Ltd, operating in the country as Maweni Limestone Limited (MLL) was reporting as saying it could well be forced to shut down its two plants in Dar es Salaam and Tanga after failing to obtain enough coal locally. According to MLL Chairman, the firm had entered into an understanding with Tancoal Energy Ltd to be supplied with 350 tons of coal per day without fail, up to February this year, but Tancoal was able to supply only 5,000 tons of coal in three months, against MLL’s total requirement of 17,000 tons per month.

Further, these other cement companies point out that giving Dangote the opportunity to mine coal was at best a temporary solution: “Dangote has targeted natural gas and that is why he constructed the plant in Mtwara. Once he’s connected with gas he will no longer be interested in heavy coal mining,” argued a senior manager of a large local cement company. They called for the import ban to be lifted until local sources had the capacity to meet demand.

President Magufuli agreed that Tancoal appeared unable to meet the demand. “Under the current arrangement, it is very difficult to ensure that the investor gets enough coal for cement production because of poor production capacity,” he said, and called for an investigation into the relationship between Tancoal and NDC.

Earlier, in January, the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) promised to provide the Dangote works with a connection to the natural gas pipeline by the end of the year. A ceramics factory, a food processing plant and the Coca Cola plant in Dar es Salaam were also promised connections this year, which would bring the number of connected factories to 41. (The Guardian, The Citizen)

Competing interpretations of IMF review
The release of a report by the IMF on the state of Tanzania’s economy noted both strengths and weaknesses in the economy.

“Tanzania’s macroeconomic performance remains strong. Economic growth was robust during the first half of 2016 and is projected to remain at about 7% this fiscal year. Inflation came down below the authorities’ target of 5% and is expected to remain close to the target, while the external current account deficit was revised down on account of lower imports of capital goods,” said an IMF statement. The statement also welcomed President Magufuli’s anti-corruption drive and tax revenue collection measures. “If sustained, [this] will provide a good foundation for the envisaged scaling up of infrastructure investment, starting with the 2016/17 budget.”

However, the statement also noted that President Magufuli’s approach to the management of the economy faces four key challenges that risk undermining the country’s macroeconomic stability. It listed these as a tight stance on macroeconomic policies, the slow pace of credit growth, slow implementation of public investment, and private sector uncertainty about the government’s new economic strategies.

This mixed report led to varied headlines. “IMF hails Dar over economic feat,” said the state-owned Daily News. In contrast, The Citizen went with a very different line: “JPM’s policies may hurt economy: IMF.”

Vodacom IPO
Vodacom Tanzania began an initial public offering (IPO) in March, the first in a series of mobile network listings expected on the Dar es Salaam stock exchange. The company plans to raise TSh 476 billion ($213 million) in an offering of 560 million shares at TSh 850 each, according to a prospectus issued to brokers, expects to list on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in May.

This follows a law passed in 2016 requiring phone companies to sell at least 25% of their businesses to the public to boost local ownership.
“Vodacom Tanzania’s IPO valuation looks rich at a first glance,” said London-based investment firm, Exotics Partners. Nevertheless, analysts predict high demand for the shares. CEO of Zan Securities, Raphael Masumbuko said would-be investors were waiting for the IPO since the telecom Act was passed. “People from all walks of life are waiting for this IPO. We have been in constant pressure as to when Vodacom IPO will come out. The firm self-sales since it’s a household name,” he said.
With 31% of the telecoms market and 12.4 million active subscribers, Vodacom is the market leader in Tanzania. The country had over 40 million tele-subscribers by the end of 2016.

2,400 dollar millionaires in Tanzania Tanzania added an estimated 200 new dollar millionaires in 2016, according to a report by Knight Frank, bringing to the total number to around 2,400. The report is based on responses from 900 of the world’s private bankers and wealth advisors who manage over 10,000 clients with a combined wealth of around $2 trillion. The report also stated that Tanzania currently has two dollar billionaires, and predicted that this number would double in the next ten years.

ENERGY & MINERALS

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by Roger Nellist

Controversial Presidential actions on mining
In the last few months President Magufuli has issued decrees on a range of mineral matters, which are unsettling some mining investors and causing a big local stir.

Last year he ordered the revocation of a large-scale mining licence in Shinyanga in favour of the award of mineral rights to small-scale miners. In January this year, Magufuli directed the Minister of Energy and Minerals, Professor Sospeter Muhongo, to cancel a nickel mining licence at Dutwa in Simiyu region in favour of a water supply project in the area. The company that holds the Dutwa nickel mining rights (in which the World Bank through its International Finance Corporation is a 10% shareholder) has been prospecting in the area for almost a decade and is at the point of establishing a large open pit nickel mining operation. Referring to water problems in the area, the President said: “There is no way over one million people should be suffering just because one investor is extracting minerals – that does not make sense”. However, the President’s action has been strongly criticised by opposition MP Zitto Kabwe, who highlighted the considerable economic potential of the mine and said “the government is sending all negative messages to investors. These statements will cost the nation dearly in future”. The Tanzanian Chamber of Minerals and Energy called the Presidential decrees “alarming”; another body has called them an extension of violation of the law.

In a separate move, and as had been foreshadowed by President Magufuli in 2016, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals announced on 3 March an immediate ban on the export of mineral concentrates and ores for metallic minerals such as gold, copper, nickel and silver. The ban is intended to ensure that mineral value-addition activities (i.e. the processing, smelting or refining of the mineral ores/concentrates) are carried out in Tanzania, as specified in the 2009 Mineral Policy and the 2010 Mining Act. Local mineral beneficiation activities are expected to create extra jobs, generate additional revenues and transfer technology and skills to Tanzania.

However, the immediate imposition of the export ban has been criticised by several stakeholders (including small-scale miners fearing bankruptcy), who argue that existing producers have been given no time to build the necessary beneficiation facilities and that arbitrary administrative measures create an unpredictable policy environment that will deter new investors. Senior representatives of some foreign mining companies operating in Tanzania have commented that “any government making unilateral decisions is worrying and of concern” and “if the Tanzanians wish to encourage foreign investment, they’re not helping by making these sorts of announcements”. The Australian government said it was “closely monitoring” the new business policies and regulations in Tanzania for any impact those changes may have on Australian investment interests in the country.

Reports indicate that Acacia Mining Plc is the first big mining company to be affected. Although the gold bars it refines can be exported, the company has had to suspend the export of mineral sands and copper concentrate recovered during its gold mining operations. Acacia let it be known that it was losing more than $1 million each day in revenue from two of its three Tanzanian gold mines (Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi) because of the export ban. It said the ban has put unsustainable pressure on its cash flow and required it to implement stringent spending cuts and to freeze new employment.

On 23 March, President Magufuli unexpectedly visited Dar es Salaam port and inspected a number of mineral sand containers that had already been cleared for export. He ordered the stock of almost 300 containers at the port to be impounded until analysis of their contents had been completed. “Based on the information that I have, if I say what is really inside these containers, it could make any patriotic Tanzanian cry…. From now onwards, no mineralised sand will be exported from Tanzania… There is no country being robbed of its mineral wealth like Tanzania”. According to the Tanzanian Ports Authority, more than 50,000 containers holding mineral sands are being exported out of the country every year.

A few days after the President’s visit, the Speaker of the National Assembly and a number of other MPs also went to the Port to inspect the seized containers. The Speaker announced he was establishing a Parliamentary committee to investigate all aspects of the mineral sands exports saga.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Professor Justin Ntalikwa, had joined the Speaker’s visit to the port. But within hours of their visit, in an abrupt move signalling the growing sensitivity of the mineral sands export ban, President Magufuli sacked Prof Ntalikwa. No reasons were given but speculation in the press attributed Ntalikwa’s removal to his remarks about the high cost and time needed to establish local beneficiation facilities.

Then at the end of March, in an attempt to allay investors’ fears over the export ban, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa made a surprise visit to the Buzwagi Gold Mine in Shinyanga and spoke to workers there who were concerned about potential job losses resulting from the export ban. “I want to assure Tanzanians questioning this exercise that we are not doing this to scare away investors,” he said. “We want to satisfy ourselves on what is going on with our mines.” He added that the government had to clear doubts that the country was not being short-changed with regard to the export of copper concentrates. The PM’s team also took samples of mineral sands from sealed containers destined for export from the mine, in order to have them analysed independently for the amounts of copper concentrates.

The ongoing controversy has now led to official calls for some of the mining agreements to be renegotiated. Just before Easter the Controller & Auditor General sent a report to President Magufuli saying that the government must review mining contracts and rethink its tax code (to remove unreasonable provisions including generous tax exemptions and other contractual loopholes) if Tanzania is to benefit from the extractives industry.

Five-year delay for the LNG plant
At the end of 2016, Statoil’s Tanzania country manager, Oystein Michelsen, warned that a final investment decision on the $30 billion onshore liquefied natural gas export terminal will not be made for at least five years, and that it would take another five years after that to actually build the plant. The commercial partners in this mega project (which the Bank of Tanzania estimates would add 2 percentage points to annual economic growth) are Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil, Exxon Mobil, Ophir Energy and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation. The big hurdles facing the project include the paramount need for a stable contractual framework with the Government, resolution of land issues, identification of funding and clarity over local ownership requirements in some contracts. President Magufuli has ordered officials to accelerate the resolution of these issues so that the project can start.

Tanesco – Power price hikes cancelled
At the end of December 2016, the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority announced an increase in electricity tariffs of 8.5%, to the consternation of many including the Energy and Minerals Minister Sospeter Muhongo, who immediately revoked the order. The increase had been sought by the state utility, Tanesco, which had actually wanted an even bigger hike. After Minister Muhongo also disclosed that Tanesco managers had been paying themselves large bonuses despite the utility’s dire financial position, President Magufuli intervened and on 1 January sacked Tanesco’s Managing Director, Felchesmi Mramba. University of Dar es Salaam senior lecturer Dr Tito Mwinuka was appointed as Mramba’s successor in an acting capacity. Mwinuka said his priorities would be to expand the country’s power production capacity, to pursue those owing the utility money, and to improve the utility’s efficiency by changing its ‘business as usual’ culture and reducing the substantial wastage of both electricity and finances within the company. He would also pursue those who make illegal electrical connections.

AGRICULTURE

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by David Brewin

The prolonged drought
Although Tanzania may have suffered less than several neighbouring countries, the prolonged drought which has hit the East African region has caused serious problems for the agricultural industry.

Most of Tanzania has experienced inadequate rains at the end of last year and irrigation farming has suffered particularly badly. The Tanzania Meteorological Agency in (TMA) blames the situation on the effects of climate change which, have affected weather patterns across the globe.
Particularly affected are coffee and tea farmers. The drought induced by the La Niña weather phenomenon leading into the last quarter of last year delayed the flowering of coffee bushes. Maize and bean harvests are also threatened which have triggered food price increases.

This year’s drought is said to be the worst in the past 34 years. Tanzania is already receiving refugees from neighbouring countries.

Sugar
In what was intended to be a contribution to the planned expansion of the sugar industry in Tanzania from a production of 300,000 tons per annum at present to an eventual total of up to 2 million tons, the government set aside 10,000 hectares in Bagamoyo district for a sugar project to produce ethanol for export. This project attracted substantial investment from Sweden, the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, the African Development Bank and others. However, many of the population in the area were not happy and organised protests and said that it was an example of “land grabbing”. The latest news is that the scheme has now collapsed following the ending of Swedish support.

Tanneries and leather factories
Following a meeting between presidents Magufuli of Tanzania and Abdel el Sisi of Egypt in Addis Ababa it was learned that the Tanzanian Minister for Trade and Industry, Charles Mwijage, would be turning to Egypt to tap into the technology needed to help revive its tanneries and leather factories. Tanzania is second in Africa, after Ethiopia, in the number of livestock it keeps. There are some 23 million cattle, 16 million goats, 7 million sheep and 2 million pigs. But the country imports large numbers of shoes from China and South-East Asia, some 4% of which are made from pure leather. The Minister said that in Tanzania thousands of tonnes of skins and hides are wasted due to poor handling. Tanzania has eight small and medium-sized leather factories operating below capacity, in collecting and processing raw hides and skins.

High Quality Coffee
A small company of coffee growers in North Yorkshire are in the process of creating a partnership between Britain and Tanzania in producing and selling speciality coffee which is of particularly high quality. The founder of the company, David Beatty was in Tanzania recently on a research trip which is expected to be followed by the importation of high quality coffee beans from Mbeya, Mbozi and Rungwe districts. The company aims to buy premium priced coffee beans through direct negotiation with the farmers. The aim is to ensure a fixed premium price for the farmers instead of leaving them to sell their product via auction into the commodity market. Quality demands a high price, and this is the best way that a farmer can directly benefit from the increasing demand for speciality coffee. “We set our sights on Tanzania in the hopes of finding a coffee which is a true reflection of the country. Visiting the country first-hand meant that we could inspect the crop, the harvesting and processing methods plus the environmental conditions, all of which impact on the quality of the beans. Due to its exclusivity, the new coffee will be distributed to only a select few retailers, one of which is a street coffee house in Middlesbrough. It is hoped to start serving the coffee towards the end of 2017. Thank you for sending this – Editor.

Fish farming
In Tanzania fish farming is still largely a small-scale rural initiative. It is characterised by small pond culture and contributes only 1.4% to GDP. There is very much greater potential.

Inland water covers about 6.5% of the total land area including the great Lakes – Lake Victoria, Tanganyika, and yes Nyasa/Malawi. The lakes are recognised as among 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world because they are home to hundreds of species of secluded Cichlid fish. These include around 30 species of tilapia, 11 of which are not found anywhere else in the world.

The Earlham Institute and Bangor University in the UK, as part of an international consortium of organisations, are working to characterise the genetics of tilapia species. The other institutions also involved are the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, WorldFish, the University of Dar es Salaam, Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro and the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute. The aim is to improve aquaculture and fish production while preserving Tanzania’s natural diversity and resources.

In an article in the East African, the Earlham Institute’s director of science Federica Di Parmer has pointed out that tilapia farming could become a potentially important area. Tilapia are particularly suitable for aquaculture because they can tolerate different environments and conditions. Their growth rates are also relatively fast and they have low input requirements. They are second only to Carp as the world’s most frequently farmed fish.

Digitising the agricultural sector
A strategic partnership agreement has been signed between Tanzania’s national micro-finance bank (NMB) and MasterCard to digitise the agricultural sector in the country. The partnership will see the role of eKilimo, a digital platform designed to introduce efficiency, security and transparency in the agricultural supply chain. This is expected to make transactions faster, safer, and easier for all including the farmer, the buyer and the agent. Farmers will sell produce and receive payments via a smart phone.