Optimism thrust into 2018

ALVAR MWAKYUSA

PRESIDENT John Magufuli (right), and other worshippers follow Sunday mass proceedings at St Peter’s Catholic Church, Oysterbay Parish in Dar es Salaam, yesterday. (Photo by State House)

…as the old year was a mixed grill of good tidings and sorrow

GOODBYE 2017 and welcome 2018 ! It was a year of major events and pockets of challenges but the country remains strong and continues to register socio-economic achievements under the Fifth Phase Government superintended by President John Magufuli.

The year saw major reforms in the mining sector, as well as the launch of major development projects, some of which are being funded by local resources. They include the stretch of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro which is currently underway, the construction of a flyover at a location called Tazara as well as the launching of the Ubungo interchange in Dar es Salaam.

Plus, after many years of dilly-dallying, the government finally floated a tender for construction of the Stiegler’s Gorge hydro plant along Rufiji River within the Selous Game Reserve. Upon completion, the project is slated to produce over 2,000 megawatts of electricity.

It was the same year which saw President Magufuli and the President of Uganda, Mr Yoweri Museveni, lay a foundation stone for construction of a mega pipeline for transporting crude oil from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga Port in Tanzania.

In December, last year Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan officially relocated to the designated city of Dodoma, becoming the second high ranking government leader to move to the central urban centre from Dar es Salaam after Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa did so in September, 2016.

During the year under review, the government purged a total of 19,708 ghost workers from the payroll, in addition to over 10,000 servants with phony certificates. Statistics indicate that the government used to fork out 238.2bn/- per annum as salaries and allowances to the non-existing government employees.

In the mining sector, the Tanzanian government and mining conglomerate Barrick Gold Corporation, finally buried the hatchet with a resolution to share profits accrued from the gold mines on a 50-50 ratio. The state was in addition given a 16 per cent stake in the mines.

The two sides reached the resolution following discussions by experts from the two sides which focused on resolving a tax dispute involving the Canadian company’s subsidiary, Acacia Mining. The company also agreed to pay 300 million US dollars (about 700bn/-) as a show of good faith while the negotiations were still underway.

The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, said the resolutions had brought great changes in supervising and managing the resource in the country. “These efforts should not be ignored ... the 50-50 system proposed by Barrick is a great transformation in the sector, not only in Africa but also in the world at large, because the company, as majority shareholder, has agreed to the profits being shared equally,” Prof Kabudi said.

In March this year, the President formed an eight-man probe team of experts led by Prof Abdulkarim Mruma, to investigate and establish the amount of minerals and its value, contained in mineral sand exported abroad. The team exposed massive losses of trillions of shillings in exported minerals.

The report led to the formation of another team led by Prof Kabudi, to represent the country in looking into how Barrick Gold Corporation would conduct its activities in the country for the benefit of all parties. Following the successful negotiations with Barrick Gold, President Magufuli called for similar discussions in the mining of tanzanite and diamond, in order to create a win-win situation.

“Make arrangements with the investors and commence the negotiations as soon as possible; the deliberations should be in the same spirit as for the ones on gold. The objective is to ensure that the natural resources benefit the people. “Any investor who refuses to negotiate with the government should pack up and leave; the resources are rewards endowed to this country by God, and should thus benefit our people,” Dr Magufuli stressed.

The negotiations came after the two presidential committees exposed anomalies in declarations of the quantity and value of copper concentrates produced by the company. “Negotiations are crucial to enable the country reap its fair share of the resources bestowed on it; we have made successful discussions with Barrick Gold because we engaged them,” he remarked.

The eight-member negotiation team from Tanzania was led by Prof Kabudi, while that of the miner was led by Barrick Gold’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr Richard Williams. Dr Magufuli on the other hand hailed the National Assembly for enacting new legislations which would enable the government reap a fair share from natural resources.

Barrick Gold subsidiary Acacia Mining has three mines in Tanzania, on two of which, Buzwagi and Bulyanhulu, an export ban for concentrates of gold and copper ore was slapped in March.

Tanzania is Africa’s fourth largest gold producer after South Africa, Ghana and Mali. Shortly after the two reports by the presidential commissions, the Chairman of Barrick Gold, Mr John Thornton, jetted into the country and held a meeting with President Magufuli, in which he agreed to hold discussions to resolve the row.

On the dark side, the country mourned the deaths of 32 pupils of Lucky Vincent School in who were killed in a road accident in Karatu, Arusha Region, where they were heading for mock examinations. The accident also claimed the lives of two teachers and the driver of the ill-fated vehicle. 

The accident occurred when a Mitsubishi Rosa bus with registration number T-871 BYS plunged into the Kwa Karani Gorge, in Rhotia Ward of Karatu District on a rainy Saturday morning of 6th May 2017. A communal requiem mass was held for the deceased at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium in Arusha two days later on Monday, the 8th of May 2017, before each of the departed pupils was taken to their home villages for burial.

It was the first horrific accident to claim many lives in Karatu District and also the first such crash to kill many pupils in Arusha since the one which occurred in Kisongo back in 1971. Arusha was to suffer yet another terrible accident, this time being an airborne mishap.

On Wednesday, November 15, this year, eleven people were killed on the spot when the Coastal Aviation Aircraft; a Cessna Grand Caravan 5H-EGG plane, crashed onto the walls of Empaakai Crater in Ngorongoro Conservation Area.