Tanzania's Chief of Defence Forces General Venance Salvatory Mabeyo
Dar es Salaam — The
government has sent troops to Tanzania's border with Mozambique to
boost security after insurgents launched attacks in the northern
Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
In February this
year, the group attacked security forces and civilians in Cabo Delgado,
killing people, destroying property and seizing fire-arms and
ammunitions.
Last month, the
group reportedly massacred at least 50 people in Muidumbe district when
they over-ran the district's capital Namacunde and occupied the district
police com-mand.
Media reports say
the United Nations has recorded 28 attacks in the area since the
beginning of 2020, which killed up to 400 people and displaced at least
100 000 others.
Requesting
Parliament to endorse a total of Sh2.1 trillion for the Ministry of
Defence and National Service for the 2020/21 financial year, the
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (Policy, Parliamentary
Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled), Ms Jenista
Mhagama, said troops were dispatched to the area despite the fact that
it was generally calm on the Tanzanian side.
Ms Mhagama was
presenting the budget estimates on behalf of her Defence and National
Services counterpart, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, who was attending to other
government duties.
She said troops
have been dispatched to the border close to Mtwara Region to contain
secu-rity threats posed by Al Sunnah wa Jama'ah (ASWJ) insurgents.
"In March this
year, the government dispatched troops to Msimbati and Sindano areas in
Mtwara as well as Chiwindi in Nyasa District, Ruvuma Region, in order to
strengthen security along the coun-try's 1,536-kilometre borders with
Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia," she said.
Media reports from
Mozambique say the insurgency was part of a struggle for the control of
Cabo Del-gado's oil, gas and mineral riches.
Ms Mhagama who
doubles as the Chief Whip in Parliament, said the ministry was
requesting for approval of Sh2.141 trillion for 2020/21.
The amount is
Sh286.997 billion (15.4 percent) more than the Sh1.854 trillion endorsed
for 2019/20.Ms Mhagama said Sh1.977 tril-lion was for recurrent
expenditure, while Sh164 billion was the minis-try's development budget.
"Sh1.617 trillion
will be used for recurrent expenditure and implementation of development
projects under Ngome, while Sh354.235 billion and Sh169.635 billion
will be allocated to the National Service and the ministry headquarters,
respectively," she said.
The tabled budget
shows that the ministry's allocations for recurrent expenditure was
expected to increase from Sh1.726 trillion to Sh1.977 trillion, while
funds for implementation of development projects will increase from
Sh128 billion to Sh164 billion.
In the coming
fiscal year, she said the ministry will continue to improve the military
through provision of modern equipment, communication tools and human
resource."Improving the working environ-ment of soldiers, including
training, preservation of equipment and infra-structure, welfare and
improved ser-vices in terms of health, office and housing will be among
the priorities," Ms Mhagama said.
The ministry will
build the capac-ity of the National Service by improv-ing infrastructure
that will enable the recruitment of more youth in provision of training
on patriotism, sturdiness, national unity and job skills.
The Foreign
Affairs, Defence and Security Committee asked the gov-ernment to
increase the docket's budget and release funds for timely completion of
the ministry's head-quarters in Dodoma.
"The government
should also release funds for compensation of people who have given up
their land to be used for military purposes," said committee member
Almas Maige when presenting the team's views.
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