• COUNTRY IN FOCUS
Mbowe , leader of Chadema ( the Democracy Party ) was arrested and charged with “ terrorism financing and terrorism conspiracy ”.
While the new president has made all the right moves on the economic front , fears are growing that she does not have the political clout within her own party to bring about meaningful constitutional changes .
Mbowe and his Chadema party members have been pushing for a review of the country ’ s constitution since the death of Magufuli .
Magufuli halted the process of drafting a new constitution after taking office in 2015 and banned all political rallies the following year .
Although the late Magufuli was widely recognised as an authoritarian , he had large support within the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi ( CCM ) party . Suluhu , on the other hand , does not always enjoy the majority support from her party members , and especially those that were closely aligned to Magufuli . This makes it difficult for the new president to push through radical changes .
However , Suluhu has been working hard to get the Tanzanian economy back on track since she took over the presidency after the death of Magufuli . The erstwhile president did not always make it easy for the private sector to do business in the country . Hassan ’ s priority since coming into office has been to mend the fragile relationship with foreign investors and to stabilise the economy .
Her recent plea with Tanzanians to give her more time to fix the economy before she can allow the banned political rallies to resume drafting a new constitution , sparked the events that resulted in Mbowe ’ s arrest .
Suluhu needs time “ Give me some more time so that I can stabilise Tanzania economically , inviting investors to invest and creating jobs and then the rest will follow . When the time arrives , we will deal with the issue of the new constitution and lifting the ban on political rallies . Right now , we do allow political parties to organise meetings with their people , and I think you see that ,” the president said in her speech , which was not received well by the opposition .
Opposition leaders and rights activists called for a forum to be held soon after Hassan ’ s speech . They urged the government to allow them more political space . Mbowe and the other 10 members of Chadema were arrested at a hotel in Mwanza , just hours before the planned conference dubbed “ Katiba Day ,” ( Constitution Day ). The move gave credence to fears that the CCM , even under Hassan , will rule with an iron fist . It seems that the CCM felt threatened by the momentum gained through calls for constitutional reform .
We have recruited more than 600 new local employees , with Tanzanian nationals now making up 96 % of the mines ’ workforce .
Samia Suluhu Hassan , the new President of Tanzania , hails from the island of Zanzibar . In picture is Stone Town in Zanzibar .
18 • African Mining • November 2021 www . africanmining . co . za