* The year 2016 was a mixture of both
good and some bad news such as slaying of police officers in Mkuranga,
researchers in Dodoma and five members of a family who were killed in
Simiyu Region, to mention but a few.
*Clashes between farmers and
pastoralists were as well experienced in many parts of the country
leading to deaths and injuries. Just recently, one person was seriously
injured during clashes pitting pastoralists and farmers in Morogoro
Region.
*Put the bad news aside, it was a good
year for the country as the government acquired two Q400 Bombardier
aircraft to revive the national carrier, Air Tanzania Company Limited
(ATCL).
*Parents and guardians on the other hand
started the year 2016 with broad smiles after the Fifth Phase
Government under President John Magufuli announced free education from
primary to Form IV in all public schools countrywide.
*Through provision of free education,
enrolment of students in primary and secondary schools (Form One)
increased significantly by 84 and 26 per cent respectively, since even
poor families who could not afford school fees were now able to send
their children to school.
*In higher education, the number of
students benefiting from loans from the Higher Education Students’ Loans
Board (HESLB) increased considerably from 98,000 students in 2015 to
124,320 in 2016.
The amount of funds loaned to the
students rose to 483bn/- in 2016, up from 340bn/- dished in the previous
year. *The economy grew at 7 per cent with projections showing that it
will record 7.2 per cent in 2017 while the inflation has been contained
within single digit.
*The inflation rate dropped from 6.5 per
cent in January 2016 to 5.5 per cent in June 2016 and a further
decrease to 4.5 per cent in September and 4.8 in November.
*It was based on this performance that
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG)
ranked Tanzania as among best five well performing economies last year.
*The agriculture sector, the backbone of
the economy, however, which contributes 24.5 per cent to the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), continued to record sluggish performance last
year growing at just 0.3 per cent between July and September, last year.
*It was as well during the year under
review that Dr Magufuli was elected National Chairman of CCM having
assumed presidency during the General Election held in November, 2015.
President Magufuli took over the chairmanship from former President
Jakaya Kikwete.
*In his address to party members in
Dodoma, Dr Magufuli announced the shift of the capital city from the
commercial city of Dar es Salaam to Dodoma during the Fifth Phase
Government to fulfil the dream of founding Father of Tanzania, the late
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.
*After the announcement in July, Prime
Minister Kassim Majaliwa officially relocated his office from Dar es
Salaam to the designated capital of Dodoma in which he directed
government ministers to follow suit.
*Dr Magufuli had announced that his
government will shift to Dodoma before the end of his tenure in 2020.
*Infrastructure development remained top of the government agenda with
the government allocating 1trl/- for construction of a portion of
central railway line by Standard Gauge from Dar es Salaam to Ruvu in
Coast Region.
*Tanzania also made history in 2016 by
launching the 680- metre long Nyerere Bridge connecting Kigamboni and
Dar es Salaam’s Central Business District (CBD). The Nyerere Bridge is
the longest cable-stayed bridge in East and Central Africa. *During the
same year, President Magufuli laid a foundation stone for construction
of the Tazara Flyover at the intersection of Nyerere Road and Mandela
Expressway in Dar es Salaam, the first of its kind in the country.
*Upon completion of the project at the
end of 2018, the usual 45-minute plus trip from the Julius Nyerere
International Airport (JNIA) to the city centre would be cut down to 15
minutes.
*Other projects that are in the pipeline
include a 6-kilometre flyover from Coco Beach, across the Indian Ocean
to the Aga Khan Hospital in Upanga East and a two-storey interchange
flyover funded by the World Bank at Ubungo.
*Commuters along Morogoro Road had a
sigh of relief during the year 2016 following the launch of Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) in May, which covers 21-kilometre from Kimara Mwisho to
Kivukoni. The buses also ply to Gerezani in Kariakoo and Morocco in
Kinondoni as well as Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH).
*Construction of the first phase of BRT
started in the year 2012 and was completed in December 2015. It was
funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank and the
Government of Tanzania. The project has considerably eased public
transport along the routes.
*It was also in 2016 where President
Magufuli directed authorities to take actions against some officials at
the JNIA who had lied to him that all security scanners were functioning
and yet two of them were defective.
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