In 2015, Tanzania had a population of 54.3 million people, with the majority of the population being Bantu-speaking peoples. The economy was largely based on agriculture, tourism and mining. Foreign relations in 2015 were largely focused on maintaining ties with other African nations as well as countries in Europe and the Americas. Tanzania was also a member of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Politics in Tanzania in 2015 was dominated by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, led by President Jakaya Kikwete. Kikwete had been president since 2005 and supported policies aimed at reducing poverty and improving public services such as healthcare and education. He also sought to increase foreign investment into Tanzania while maintaining good relations with other countries in Africa, Europe and beyond. See ehealthfacts for Tanzania in the year of 2005.
Yearbook 2015
Tanzania. In January, the government stopped the respected weekly newspaper The East African, which is published in Nairobi, after critical editorial articles and an abusive satirical drawing by President Jakaya Kikwete. After strong media protests during the year, the government withdrew a proposal for up to 15 years in prison for civil servants who disclose information that is not in the “public interest”.
According to COUNTRYAAH, DDodoma is the capital of Tanzania which is located in Eastern Africa. The Minister of Energy became the third minister dismissed following a corruption scandal in the state energy company, where the equivalent of approximately SEK 1.5 billion was swindled from the country’s central bank. In April, the EU resumed budget support halted due to the scandal. During the year, two former finance ministers were sentenced to three years in prison for helping a foreign company avoid tax.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Tanzania country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
Before the parliamentary and presidential elections, the political opposition was united in a new alliance, the Coalition for the Defense of the Constitution (Ukawa). The opposition to the proposal for a new constitution became so strong that the government was forced to postpone a referendum to be held in April.
The popular former prime minister and CCM politician Edward Lowassa was nominated as opposition candidate. However, it was CCM’s candidate, Labor Minister John Magufuli, who won the election with 58.5% of the vote against just under 40% for Lowassa. Corruption was a major issue in the electoral movement, and Magufuli was seen as an uncorrupted politician.
In the parliamentary elections, the opposition went ahead and the ruling party returned, but the CCM (Revolutionary Party) still retained its majority by a good margin. CCM received 55% of the vote, and opposition parties Chadema and CUF (United Citizens’ Front) just over 37 and just over 8%. CCM was accused of electoral fraud, and foreign election observers criticized state media for being biased against CCM. In Zanzibar, the regional elections were annulled because of electoral fraud.
New President Magufuli appointed a relatively unknown minister, Kassim Majaliwa, as new prime minister. Together they took action against the corruption. Restrictions were imposed on government officials’ trips abroad and tax exemptions were withdrawn. The head of the tax office and five officials were shut down by the accused for corruption. Among other things, 350 ship containers had disappeared. A former head of the tax office was investigated for bribes in a foreign loan to Tanzania of $ 600 million.
During the year, the government attacked persecution, mutilation and murder of people with albinism, whose body parts are considered to have magical properties. Prohibitions were issued against so-called witch doctors who were considered guilty. Hundreds of witch doctors were arrested by police, and several people were sentenced to death for murder.
History – Multi-party democracy, the Tanzania actually continued to remain under the political dominance of the Chama cha mapinduzi (CCM, Party for the revolution), in power since 1995, reconfirmed as an absolute majority party even in the 2010 elections in which, albeit in decline compared to 2005, he won 186 of the 239 elected seats and a second term for his presidential candidate Jakaya Kikwe te. The main opposition parties were the conservative Chama cha demokrasia na maendeleo (CHADEMA, Party for Democracy and Progress) with 23 seats and the Civic United Front (CUF), 24 seats, rooted mainly in Zanzibar. Precisely to overcome the disputes over the government of Zanzibar, constituting an autonomous administrative unit, with its own president and parliament, CCM and CUF signed an agreement before the local elections which took place in 2010 which provided for the sharing of power between the majority and the opposition regardless of the electoral outcome. As a result, the election to the presidency of Ali Mohamed Shein of the CCM (50.2% of the votes) was followed by the appointment of the candidate of the CUF, Seif Sharif Hamad (49.1%), as first vice president. The corruption of the political-administrative apparatus of the state remained one of the main problems of the country and forced Kikwete to numerous government reshuffles. In 2012, the resignation of six ministers all involved in a financial scandal. If on the domestic level the government action to revive the economy struggled to take off, on the international level, however, the president promoted a particularly active policy. East African Community). Relations with China were also promoted and those with the United States re-launched, made official by the meeting between Kikwete and Obama in 2013. In October 2014, the Constituent Assembly appointed by the government approved a new constitutional text which provided for between the other, the creation of a federal state, expanded freedom of the press and information and guaranteed women greater civil rights, including the right to own land. The text, criticized by the opposition because it was considered too moderate, was supposed to be subjected to a referendum in 2015, but the vote – initially scheduled for April – was postponed.