Tanzania: Govt Reiterates Commitment to Electrify All Villages

By Daily News Reporter in Dodoma

THE government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring all homes in all villages across the country

are electrified.

Deputy Minister for Energy Subira Mgalu assured this at the weekend, when she switched on light to villages and public institutions in Mpwapwa and Kilosa districts in Dodoma and Morogoro regions respectively.

According to the deputy minister, the first challenge was to supply electricity to villages in which the government has performed well.

"After this exercise, our teams from Tanesco and the Rural Energy Agency (REA) will have to ensure every suburb and every home is connected at 27,000/-," she announced.

Ms Mgalu said the first round of REA phase three had come to an end and the government had already identified new contractors to implement the second round of REA phase three.

"We expect to apportion locations for the new contractors between August 20 and September 20, this year," she added.

Official records from the ministry indicate that 851bn/- has been allocated for the purpose. An additional 179bn/- will be spent on connecting peri-urban areas in 16 regions, including Dodoma, to the national grid.

However, she said some homes had not been connected. She urged communities and utility authorities to raise public awareness on the benefits of electricity in their homes.

"Today, I am going to pay for the power connection fee of Julia Mtema, an old woman and widow whose house is just near the utility pole, but she is not connected," she said after electrifying Kimagai Village in Mpwapwa District.

While in Kilosa, the deputy minister said the government had connected 9,512 villages up from 2018 villages in 2015. She noted that about 3,000 villages would be electrified in the next phase, including over 1,000 suburbs.

She directed Tanesco and REA to electrify homes in Rumuma and Msowero in Kilosa District.

Kilosa District Tanesco Manager Daniel Makala Kingu assured the deputy minister that the public utility would ensure over half the population in the area was connected to electricity.

He said Tanesco had spent 90m/- on electricity supply in Msowero and Idole villages in the district.