Despite the optimism around the draft National Land Policy 2016, stakeholders have advised the government to adequately address the resettlement of people facing acute land shortage to areas with adequate land and to empower the landless including women.
Policy Forum monthly breakfast debate on the 28th of July, 2017 was dedicated to the launch of the last of a series of the Tanzania Governance Reviews (TGRs) by Policy Forum that measure the quality of governance in Tanzania. Entitled “Tanzania Governance Review 2015/16: From Kikwete to Magufuli: Break from the past or more of the same?”, the publication was presented by Brian Cooksey from the Tanzania Development Research Group.
Although Tanzania has a mature mining industry and is Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer with revenues constituting 80% of the extractive industries’ 12% contribution to Tanzanian government revenues based on data collected during 2016, the country scores 49 of 100 points and ranks 42nd among 89 country assessments in the 2017 Resource Governance Index (RGI) on governance in the sector.
At a public hearing today, HakiRasilimali submitted to the parliamentary committees on Energy and Minerals and Constitutional and Legal Affairs its opinion on the following bills tabled in parliament on the 29th of June 2017:
1. The Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendment) No. 4 Of 2017
2. Natural Wealth and Resource Contracts (Review and Renegotiations of Unconscionable Terms) Act 2017
3. The Natural Wealth and Resources (Permanent Sovereignty) Act 2017
Recently, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. John Pombe Magufuli constituted two high level committees of experts tasked with investigating potential under declaration of mineral content in the exportation of unprocessed mineral concentrates and ores largely from Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines both owned by Acacia Mining Plc and to provide recommendations on how to handle the subsector. Further, the committees were tasked to examine the fiscal aspects of the mining regime. The findings presented thereafter led to a meeting with the Barrick Executive Chairman Prof.
In 2016, Policy Forum (PF) in collaboration with Tanzania Tax Justice Coalition (TTJC) organized the launch of the Stop The Bleeding (STB) campaign aimed to trigger informed actions and enhance political will to put in place interventions that will reduce and eventually stop acts that lead to loss and flight of public resources from the country. The campaign took place in Dodoma and comprised of members of the African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption (APNAC) and other stakeholders.
On 26 May 2017, Policy Forum dedicated its monthly Breakfast Debate to discussing the National Budget for the financial year 2017/18. Titled “The National Budget 2017/18: What is changing in the education and agriculture sectors,” the debate included two presentations by Makumba Mwemezi, a programme officer from HakiElimu, an education rights organisation, and Fazal Issa a programme officer from ForumCC, a climate change group.
The government should conduct a baseline assessment to determine the targets that the country plans to achieve from the oil and gas sector and set expectations around realistic local content levels. The argument stemmed from the Policy Forum’s breakfast Debate entitled: “Thinking local: What are the Lessons & Challenges of enhancing Local Content in Tanzania?” that took place on April 28, 2017 in Dar es Salaam.
The government has pledged to consider recommendations suggested by the study entitled, Where is the Money? Taxation and the state of Africa Mining Vision (AMV) implementation: A case study of Tanzania and East Africa. The Commissioner of Minerals Eng. Ally Samaje made the promise during the National Launch of Africa Mining Vision Study on Tanzania organized by Policy Forum in collaboration with Tax Justice Network- Africa, Tanzania Tax Justice Coalition and HakiRasilimali on May 15, 2017, Dodoma.
Tanzania’s realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Five Year Development Plan II (FYDP II 2016/17- 2020/21) largely depends on its ability to effectively mobilize sufficient, predictable, reliable and timely domestic financial resources.